One of the vexing questions in science today is, why do we seem to be the only intelligent life in the universe and, if we’re not, where is everybody else? Maybe the answer is that intelligent life is a very common occurrence in the universe, but so is the inability of intelligent life to survive more than a few centuries. Maybe the early failure of intelligent life is as universal as intelligent life itself is. And maybe we humans are just following the pattern.
Or, perhaps we could take a more optimistic view and consider the measure we use for “intelligent life.” Maybe the measure shouldn’t be the technology that we would use to communicate and/or physically find other intelligent life. Perhaps technological advancement is really just a phase in human development, rather like the first quakes in the body and brain of an adolescent. And perhaps it’s a short phase, at that, to be supplanted by a more mature, responsible relationship with ourselves and our planet, with the technological advancements that would have let us interact with other intelligent life becoming but a turbulent memory. Yeah, let’s go with that view.
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