Has anyone considered we may be the most intelligent species in the Milky Way?

Hear me out:

I honestly don't think we, humanity, give ourselves enough credit. I mean we have personal transport machines (cars), personal global communicators (cell phones), anti gravity travel machines (planes), personal computing devices (laptops, tablets, smartphones), and many more instances of "high-tech" things we constantly take for granted.

I think we deserve a lot more credit than we give ourselves. We have absolutely no metric to gauge just how advanced we are as a civilization, because we only know of one technologically advanced species; ourselves. It is entirely probable we are the most advanced species in the galaxy, but I wouldn't dare apply that to the universe as, in earth metrics, the universe is near-infinite.

What I speculate is more likely is that our galaxy is absolutely teeming with life, but not the kind of super-advanced life that is currently zipping around the galaxy in Alcubierre drives. Consider the movie Avatar. I know it's a movie, but the Na'Vi illustrate very well an intelligent form of life that has yet to evolve into a technologically advanced species. I think it's highly probable, given the possibility our own solar system has 4 examples of life on different planetary bodies (clouds of Venus, microbes on Mars, methane based microbes on Titan, and obviously earth), that almost every solar system in the galaxy has some kind or form of life, just not the kind that may get us overly excited, as our imaginations crave the familiarly sculpted little green men in tacky space suits.

Try to see it how I do: Intelligent, technologically advanced lifeforms HAVE to be somewhat rare. Consider all the obstacles that species must endure to survive the necessary amount of time for proper evolution to occur. Not the least of which is the extreme volatility of star systems and planets. Look at all the extinction events Earth has had in its lifetime. In order for some super advanced species to survive for hundreds of thousands of years, to even millions of years, I would think at some point that species would have to leave their terrestrial planet behind in favor of residing solely in space in what I would assume would be gigantic space ships that make up a space colony. It as at that point, I'd expect them to branch out to other planets and form colonies to gather resources, all while their population numbers dramatically multiply.

If one were to assume this species has existed for a million years, it is logical to assume their numbers would be nearing the trillions. It seems likely we'd know them at this point in time, if they were out there combing the galaxy for resources. If not because we can detect them, but surely because they'll have the technology to detect US. And if they're peaceful, I see no reason why they wouldn't announce themselves to all humanity. If they're not, well hey, I don't know how we could still be here right now. We'd either have been near-instantly wiped out or somehow enslaved as they colonize and extort our planet for resources.

For me, to think this assumed species wouldn't announce themselves to the world in a grand fashion, but rather a small ship with few occupants that "secretly" meets with our government to form some treaty, well, seems entirely too forced.

That isn't to say, perhaps a wildly advanced species from another galaxy hasn't made the trip to us long ago in our infancy, to account for all the drawings and stories of higher powers that permeated our ancient existence. Perhaps this omnipotent race visited us, just for a short while, to give our species a little jumpstart to become what we are today.

I think it's entirely possible we underestimate what our species is capable of, and I think it's very possible humanity has much greater technology than what the common civilian (us) realizes. I think it's possible a lot of the better UFO cases can be tied to experiments of this technology, as others have speculated.

There's a few more points I'd like to make, and I'll probably post them later depending upon the comments and thoughts this receives.

They say that dolphins rank number two compared to us..
I hear they can't get the oil out of their blow holes and are dying in the gulf almost as fast as they die in captivity.

If we keep up like this we will be the most intelligent beings in the universe some day....and damn lonely having nothing alive for company other than ourselves

I not only consider it , I absolutely think it true. People may believe otherwise but they may just as well believe in an infinite ammount of universes with every possible outcome happening simultaneously! Oh wait a lot do!

S&F although I agree with you that we underestimate ourselves, think we have been visited like you said, and I think we are still being visited. But good thread either way

OMG

I hope not !!!!

if we're supposed to oversee the entire
outer space and we can't even take care
of our own. We're in serious [snip]

we probably have a DNA common to another species that did some engineering so we could develop here, so there are probably more species in our galaxy

but man its hard to say ... there are billions solar systems in this own galaxy ... to say that we are the smartest civ out there is a little too much in my opinion

possible? yes

It's the old story. If a civilisation lives long enough to become technologically advanced (such as us) do they get so technologically advanced they wipe themselves out?

Can you imagine humans having another 1000 years ahead of us at the rate we are progressing or would we kill everyone and everything first?


This thread also reminds me of a saying: "The optimist thinks this is the best world there is, the pessimist fears it's true".

If we are the most intelligent it would help when we do find more life out in space. This way we can peacefully live with the others or we can blow em to bits when they piss us off. AMERICA!

I agree fully. Ive read a few times on here about Humans being some sort of "slave" race. We use 12% of our brains at most. What if we used 50%? 100%? We are getting there and our potential is limitless. If they are here, they must see the potential. Either way good post.

S&F

reply to post by righteousxcore


We do actually use close to 90% of our brain matter just not all at the same time. Each part of the brain has its own task and is used when needed.

We've been "intelligent" for a relatively short period of time.

And even considering that it might take as long as 50,000 years (at light speed) for another civilizations signal to cross the galaxy and be detected by us, that's still a short time ...

Considering dinosaurs roamed the Earth 60, 100, 200 million years ago.

We have no idea how many intelligent life forms may have come and gone in our galaxy over the past billion years or so. Or how many there are out there right now who are only a few thousand years old in terms of being technologically advanced.

Originally posted by IamBoon
I not only consider it , I absolutely think it true. People may believe otherwise but they may just as well believe in an infinite ammount of universes with every possible outcome happening simultaneously! Oh wait a lot do!

Well some say every atom in the universe has an gravitational pull on every other single atom in the universe and it's all connected with mega long strings but i say we are more likly to be lab rats in a cage and don't have a clue.

if indeed we are real then maybe we are a steller virus sent to destroy worlds by converting energy into a useless form or are so boring and way down in the pecking order that no one wants to come and see us.

should i put my head in the sand and turn religious

I just had freaking crazy idea ...

How could we detect the remnants of radio, etc signals from other planets that have hit the Earth as far back as several million years ago?

Originally posted by area6

How could we detect the remnants of radio, etc signals from other planets that have hit the Earth as far back as several million years ago?

If another planet indeed hit the earth several million years ago, there would no longer be any radio signals to detect. That's if I understand right?

I think the title of your thread need to be changed. My thinking is it should read

"Has anyone considered we may be the most intelligent species in the Milky Way left?"


I think the whole universe is far older than we think and it plays out like a movie. We humans are coming in just as the end credits start to roll. Every one else has already left the building.

The other intelligent species have long since left this part of the universe or died off before the Earth was even formed.

We human have came along so late in the game we very well may be the last intelligent species there will ever be the Milky Way.
I think it is that simple, we just missed the party.

Now is there any intelligent species out there some where in the universe? Yes, I think so but they are so far away the human race will most likely never know of them.
It is believed that the universe is 13 to 15 billion years old. I think that is wrong. I feel that it is at least 10 times that and quit possibly even 100's of trillions of years old. I have no proof of this but it is just a feeling I have.

Technically and statistically, of course it is 'possible.' It's just that we have no way of knowing. I would think the probability, however, would be on the low side simply because of the age of the Earth and the Sun compared to other stars in the galaxy. I have not studied the issue, but my impression is that the Sun is a relatively young star compared to others in the galaxy. Perhaps someone else here could speak to that.

As far as we being a race from afar planted here, it's not even in the realm of possibility. Our DNA is so similar to other living things on earth that there is no way we're from somewhere else in the sense that we were planted here. (I know there's the "comets brought the seeds of life" theory. I'm not discounting that at all.) It's certainly possible we were 'tweaked' ala Kubrick's 2001, but there is no doubt that we evolved right here.

[edit on 7/11/2010 by schuyler]

reply to post by SaosinEngaged


We are visited. But I cannot show evidence. But here is how I see it, even if I had different views. There are over 3000 worldwide unidentified sightings a year. That would be 30,000 per decade. 180,000 since 1950. Let's assume that 99% of them are swamp gas, chinese lanterns, balloons, military source, satellites, planets and who knows what else, it still leaves one thousand eight hundred unknowns over the last sixty years. ( That is at a 1% ratio, the ratio is actually higher than that ). You know, it only takes ONE. ONE visit and we are not alone.

Here's another factor, not from me:

"Intelligent civilisations are out there and there could be thousands of them, according to an Edinburgh scientist."

Read the full article here: ( This is dated from february 2009 )

news.bbc.co.uk...

But I understand your point of view and respect it.

This was fun ! SnF.

reply to post by GobbledokTChipeater


No no, we search the skies for signals (SETI). Basically those signals are radiation in one part of the spectrum or another and they hit the Earth.

Imagine digging up the ground, analyzing it (like extremely sophisticated carbon dating so to speak) ... and possibly finding and decoding some other civilization's "I Love Lucy" TV show that came in the form of a signal millions of years ago.

We don't really have the technology today, but the idea is, it's not that we're looking for signals in the wrong place ... we're looking in the wrong time.

reply to post by SaosinEngaged

Has anyone considered we may be the most intelligent species in the Milky Way?

Has anyone considered there may be millions of civilizations in the Milky Way asking themselves the same question?