Aliens of the Gaps?
Hayyan Sheikh
Summary
Philosophical critique of extraterrestrial hypothesis reasoning, drawing an analogy to 'God of the gaps' arguments. Argues that invoking ETH to explain anomalous phenomena exhibits the same structural flaw as invoking the divine to explain natural gaps in scientific knowledge. Useful as a counterpoint paper representing the critical philosophy-of-science perspective on ETH advocacy.
Abstract
In this paper, I test the alien hypothesis for theoretical virtues. Simply put, I highlight the merits and demerits of appealing to aliens, i.e. technologically advanced intelligent extraterrestrials, to explain certain phenomena or observations. I shall compare the alien hypothesis to rival hypotheses and also argue that the jinn hypothesis is more preferable. The paper tests the alien hypothesis against criteria of theoretical virtue including simplicity, explanatory breadth, and predictive power, finding that alternative hypotheses including natural explanations and the jinn hypothesis fare comparably or better on these criteria.
Citation
Hayyan Sheikh. (2025)
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