The universe is not silent. Most civilizations simply aren't advanced enough to hear one another.
In a distant star system, an alien listener accidentally picks up a faint signal from the Solar System. Afraid of an unknown civilization, they don't attack at once. Instead, they send a scout ship to infiltrate Earth. They soon discover that the humans on this blue planet are technologically backward and constantly at war with one another, yet possess an insatiable urge to expand and destroy. After much debate, the alien civilization decides to wipe out humanity and take control of Earth.
After humanity's extinction, its new rulers transform Earth into an ideal world without war, hunger, or oppression. But they never expect their own signal to expose them to a more advanced civilization, which discovers them, wipes them out, and takes their place.
Over countless ages, Earth changes hands again and again. Every conqueror believes it has secured the future, only to become a lesser life-form in the eyes of a stronger civilization.
At last, the final civilization discovers the truth in a tomb beneath the sea: Earth was never anyone's home. It was a cosmic prize, passed from one owner to the next. To survive, they seal off the stars, destroy technology, and erase memories, sending their descendants back to the primitive age.
Many years later, those descendants give themselves a name: humanity.
Not bad. Come on, author.