What if the Fermi paradox is a hyper detailed great filter
What if the solution to the Fermi paradox isn’t that aliens are avoiding us, or that we’re alone, but that the steps going from a hospitable planet to a tecnho civilization becomes increasing more difficult as time goes on. (Ie a hyper detailed great filter)
A habitable planet needs a magnetosphere, tectonics plates, and a few other features that may be common on a cosmic scale, thus doesn’t guarantee life, it just means it can MEET the criteria if the odds go in its favor. This also considers that other astrological criteria need to be met, like stars and the proximity to one’s own galactic core.
life needs to form, for most of earths history, it went from random proteins and other materials, to single celled life forms, only recently in earths history did multicellular life appear. The time and process required for proteins to single celled and multi cellular life to appear may both vary in time but also intensity. Multicellular life may also never evolve, and life can still wipe itself cleanse at this stage.
Life needs to continually not drive itself extinct, cosmic events also need to not lead to their extinction, and their planet also needs to not lead to their extinction. After some time, intelligent life MIGHT evolve, but that doesn’t mean it’s guaranteed. Actually intelligent life itself may be rare compared to the commonality of alien life.
That intelligent life needs to get lucky enough that their planet has the necessary resources and requirements that allow them to actually advance, if their planets atmosphere doesn’t allow fire to form, then their forever stuck at technological tiers below an Industrial Revolution. Their planet also needs the resources that allow them to actually build a society.
Assuming they don’t wage endless wars, or drain their resources. They need a REASON to leave their home world, and a reason to actually utilize their star systems resources, assuming their star system isn’t a devoid of mineable planets and other objects
Lastly, traveling space, and dealing with it is difficult no matter what, space is VAST, immensely vast, communicating between those vast distances, even with our tech is difficult, and after a certain distance it becomes obsolete. Habitable planets may not be super common, at-least not in close proximity. And even if they are, theirs NO guarantee they’ll be habitable for YOU. And lastly, civilizations are going to need to adapt and reform and advance if they want to function not only in their own star system, but across stellar distances.
All in all, the Fermi paradox isn’t some super difficult brain teaser, but it might just be a great filter type scenario, where each step becomes increasingly more difficult, and depending on the cosmic dice that were thrown for you, it can determine whether your planet stays a dust ball, or if it becomes a archipelago planet that can only support Bronze Age tribes, to perhaps, a solar system civilization.