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Implications of the Copernican principle for our future prospects

Making only the assumption that you are a random intelligent observer, limits for the total longevity of our species of 0.2 million to 8 million years can be derived at the 95% confidence level. Further consideration indicates that we are unlikely to colonize the Galaxy, and that we are likely to have a higher population than the median for intelligent species.

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Gott, J. Implications of the Copernican principle for our future prospects. Nature 363, 315–319 (1993). https://doi.org/10.1038/363315a0

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