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Are we the earliest intelligent species ?


Saru

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This question is around in science fiction for a while, are WE the Eldar Race. No way to tell. Good idea, though. How long, how many stellar and biological generations does it take for Evolution, or God, to grow intelligence.

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My one argument is that it has not taken a few thousand years, it has taken 4,5 Billion years to get to where we are. Countless times life would arise only to be beaten back by solar radiation, cometary impacts, and hostile atmospheres. No-one knows how many times "life" started only to be annihiliated soon after.

Imagine one mirror placed directly in front of another mirror, the reflected images getting ever smaller, diminishing in size until you have just a pinhole reflection, almost too small to be seen, and that is where Homo Sapien Sapiens finally arose. A vanishingly small probability for sentient life to arise, an incredible fluke of nature that we are here today.

Is the Galaxy full of sentient life? I doubt it, and Drake's Equation does not address the probabilities of it arising on Earth. We could, quite possibly, be alone in the Milky Way. We COULD be the first, we COULD be the only species to have negotiated an incredible 4,5 Billion year journey through ever decreasing circles of probability in the entire Galaxy.

This thought doesn't depress me, it just makes me ever more thankful that we have got to where we are.

Of course, whilst natural predators on humans have been reduced to almost zero, the real predadors of humanity, Organised Politics and Religion, will probably snuff out what we are, and deny our futures ...IMO

I do see where you are coming from, but you also have to consider our galaxy, the earth itself is also smaller than a grain of sand of the known universe, for all we know there could be universe clusters. We haven't any solid proof of any intelligent sentient life on other planets so the probability of such arising is hard to measure.

Yes, we could be the first but you also have to see the fraction us as human beings have been around for in the lifetime of the earth, barely a noticeable fraction at all.

The possibility that if there are any other intelligent beings out there that have been around longer than us, I believe is a good chance. A million years is not even a blink of an eye for the universe but imagine the difference it would make between us an them.

In 2000 years, in between times of stagnant progress, to two crippling world wars and of course the war of Bush. One that was in favour of companies is what really brought the world down a notch which is why we are in such a fragile state, politicians and religions are just being used as tools and a driving force to get what they want. This greed is what is going to destroy us if it continues.

But we went from riding horse drawn carriages to going into space in 2000 years... Who knows how we rank in terms of intelligence with other beings out there given they exist. But in another thousand who knows what we coil have achieved. Mainly in the last two hundred years we have come up with some of the most core inventions which allowed a huge amount of innovation.

If another alien life did even develop maybe a thousand or two years, imagine what level they'd be at.

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Interesting.

I have often wondered what life would be like today if we had never been plagued by warfare, but had always resolved conflict through diplomatic means.

Or, what about if disease was non-existant, and never had been?

How would this change the way we are today?

For one thing, there would be a helluva lot more people around I think.

Well, one of the worlds biggest problems right now is overpopulation. The resources simply aren't there to provide a good quality of life to everyone out there. Disease is a result of this, I think of it as a part of the natural order.

Disease strikes where there is high amounts of squalor, most likely as a result of having more mouths than you can feed.

I also think two sides of the argument must be experienced when you mention warfare and diplomatic means before making a decision. Obviously, as we see it now, war is not a logical means of solving any problem right now. Though maybe thousands of years ago that thought would simply not have been considered.

Even though we have gone through all these population hindering phases, we still have this problem of overpopulation. Maybe if there wasn't war it could had led to more open minded thinking, I believe violence is a negative trait to a human being and has hindered in decision making that could have led to a better world.

These days everyone wants a car, their own house etc. Something earth can't support for the current population. Something needs to be done and I think something will be.

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I think we just all need to get along. And not waste our time on wars... But that may lead to over population.. Or something is making us hate each other to start wars..

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This amazes me

There are more stars in the Universe than there are grains of sand on Earth and there are an equal number of planets.

With those odds i can't even begin to comprend how big the Universe is let alone are Galaxy.

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Its all just a dream,we sleep we dream we are what we think we are. Some sleep better than others. :tu: :tu:

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I think we just all need to get along. And not waste our time on wars... But that may lead to over population.. Or something is making us hate each other to start wars..

Over population....

Maybe we need to hurry and develop better space travel and start populating other planets.

This would be a way to solve population issues. XD Of course that won't happen for a while....how sad I'd volunteer for populating another planet. My dreams are shattered!

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We are DEFINITELY not the first or the earliest. :alien:

Enrico Fermi is totally correct in his assumptions and speculations.

AND, this quote from the end of the article by Arthur C. Clarke speaks volumes....

This is exactly why our primitive ancestors viewed the beings visiting them in ancient times as Gods. Their technology was like magic to our early ancestors and they were in awe.

How do you know for sure we are not the first, or for that matter, all there is?

You do not.

I would bet Fermi did not have this information.

There are 200 billion stars in the Milky Way and 90% are small enough and old enough to have planets in orbit. And only 10% of these stars were formed with enough heavy elements to have Earth-like planets with 2% of these --or 100 million super-Earths and Earths-- will orbit within their star's habitable zone.
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Are we really the most intelligent on our planet? We pollute and make war with each other. Intelligent? Hmmm

We also conserve forests, bring species back from the brink of extinction, we are even attempting to clone back lost species, take animals into our homes and care for them, and missionaries send barrels of food to the needy. We make places pretty, we clean up after ourselves (some have to do more cleaning than others) and we try to protect the environment. We revegitate, repopulate, and reinstate.

What do you think a T Rex might have done for a beached Dolphin, and what do humans do?

It's not all downhill. I do not think the planet should be held accountable for the few who spoil things.

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We also conserve forests, bring species back from the brink of extinction, we are even attempting to clone back lost species, take animals into our homes and care for them, and missionaries send barrels of food to the needy. We make places pretty, we clean up after ourselves (some have to do more cleaning than others) and we try to protect the environment. We revegitate, repopulate, and reinstate.

What do you think a T Rex might have done for a beached Dolphin, and what do humans do?

It's not all downhill. I do not think the planet should be held accountable for the few who spoil things.

We have destroyed more then we have fixed.

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This is a little self absorbed of mankind isn't it...

Come on Biff, that is what we are best at, you know 'what are WE here for' and all that 'we are important' nonsense...

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Of course not, Dolphins, chimps and Octopuses are also intelligent.

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This amazes me

With those odds i can't even begin to comprend how big the Universe is let alone are Galaxy.

Lets consider the possibility of universe clusters for a moment... Yeah. Incomprehensible isn't it? Who knows what the ultimate container for all this is.

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Enrico Fermi is totally correct in his assumptions and speculations.

Enrico Fermi'd roll over in his motherf%g grave if he heard that stupid sh&%it. I mean, he'd just turn over ass up in your face. He wouldn't give a f*^!

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Does an egocentric mind even entertain the idea of intelligence other than theirself?

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There is a supreme arrogance in believing you are the only, or first, intelligent being in the WHOLEEEEE universe. Kind've like the arrogance of believing you were created by accident. But that's another topic..

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There is a supreme arrogance in believing you are the only, or first, intelligent being in the WHOLEEEEE universe. Kind've like the arrogance of believing you were created by accident. But that's another topic..

Wouldn't the arrogance be associated with being created by a 'creator' rather than life forming by accident?

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