The Zoo Hypothesis

 "Sometimes I think the surest sign that intelligent life exists elsewhere in the universe is that none of it has tried to contact us."

- Bill Watterson, Calvin and Hobbes (November 8, 1989)

If you played the Sporcle quiz featuring depictions of zoos in TV shows, you may have noticed that a few of them depicted zoos with a twist - ones in which we were the animals.  Throughout human history, there have been occasions on which humans have been put on display for other humans, from the menagerie of Montezuma in the Aztec capital to the traveling ethnic exhibitions at the turn of the last century, organized by Carl Hagenbeck.  Then, years ago someone stepped back and asked the weird question of, what if all of us - as in, the entire planet - are actually part of one giant zoo exhibit?

The Zoo Hypothesis, as it is called, is a popular device in science fiction.  It maintains that advanced aliens are watching us, perhaps studying us, as we might study animals in a zoo.  Unlike the animals in the zoo, however, we are unaware of their presence.  Which is just as well, I suppose.  I'd hate to think of what the Martian equivalent of banging on the glass or throwing rocks might be.  An alternative twist on the theory is that we aren't zoo animals, we're laboratory animals, and that said aliens are experimenting on us through subtle manipulation.  That's... less comforting.

So remember, if you ever feel like you're being watched or are never alone, this might be the explanation.  Or you might just be paranoid.  Maybe the zoo animals have it better.  At least they meet their keepers, and they know when someone is on the other side of the glass.