Great filter
From BurnZero
The Great Filter, in the context of the Fermi paradox, is whatever prevents intelligent life outside of the earth's atmosphere from communicating back with us on earth.
Despite the vastness of the universe, teeming with billions of stars and potentially habitable planets, we have yet to receive any concrete signals or evidence of extraterrestrial intelligent life. This conspicuous silence begs the question: Is the Great Filter behind us, indicating that we are among the rare few to have surpassed these universal challenges? Or does it ominously lie ahead, suggesting that advanced civilizations are doomed to self-destruction or some other insurmountable fate?