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

If we are the most intelligent creatures in the Milky Way, then the next couple million years are going to be REALLY boring. Unless we figure a way out of this Galaxy in a timely fashion.

We have as much potential as anyting else in the Universe, or Universes, but to think we are the most intelligent is laughable and typical of the human ego, full of it's own ignorance and self importance and limited consciouness. We have a LONG WAY TO GO.

Namaste

To be honest mate I'm not sure that we're the most intelligent species on this Planet , yet alone the Milky Way

Originally posted by Arbitrageur

For that reason, it would be nice if we could colonize at least one other planet, so that an extinction level event won't terminate our entire species forever.

But as you can see, we're not making much progress toward colonizing another planet. If it were easy, lots of species would be doing it, but it's not easy.

I think mankind genuinely does have the ability to colonise other planets at this stage. We may lack a bit of the technology but we really are an ingenious bunch if we put our heads to it.

Instead we (as a planet) use our resources for war

No wonder we haven't been visited by any intelligent species. Crazy, ingenious apes we are.

I would have to respectfully disagree - only to an extent...

I believe (like you said) the galaxy is indeed teeming with non-sentient/intelligent life - a dime a dozen.

But as far as intelligent, sure - I believe there are others in our stage of technological advancement... Some probably a little farther ahead.

BUT, I believe 98% of the intelligent ones are (still) planet-bound. It seems (well, what do I know!) space travel isn't the easiest thing.

Perhaps those other 2% have found a way to get around.

But that's how I see it.

You have to look at it like this: We're where we're at. We're planet-bound. There is NO WAY to tell (at the moment) if there are other planet-bound civilizations out there because we just can't see them yet. With all due respect, it's illogical to assume that we're the only intelligent life out there solely because of this fact.

But hell yeah, they're out there. I'll put money on it.

Originally posted by Danbones
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

And our computers, gadgets and pieces of paper that people kill for. What a world, yep your right nothing in the universe apart from our superior asses!

Short and sweet.

In the Milky Way galaxy? Possible.

In the Universe? No way.

And our computers, gadgets and pieces of paper that people kill for. What a world, yep your right nothing in the universe apart from our superior asses!

What's with the Misanthropy?

While it's unlikely, it is entirely possible that human beings are the most intelligent species not just in the Milky Way Galaxy, but the entire Universe and/or all alternate Universes as well.

People kill for resources (Including Computers, Gadgets and Pieces of Paper) and it's entirely possible that civilizations millions of years in advance of our own also kill for resources. (ie. Water, Land, Metal, etc).

As the great physicist and human being Stephen Hawking put it:

"Mankind is all about resources; imagine if a more advanced civilization sees Earth as a bountiful supply of sustenance and sees our civilization as nothing more than ants crawling over a big juicy apple. Wouldn't they just wash us off?" (Earth being the Apple, in case you don't get it.)

reply to post by SaosinEngaged


Your question is actually a variation on the Fermi Paradox theme, and one that I actually addressed just a few months ago in my thread:

Where is everyone ? The mystery remains ...





[edit on 12/7/10 by tauristercus]

Originally posted by konhachi
As the great physicist and human being Stephen Hawking put it:

"Mankind is all about resources; imagine if a more advanced civilization sees Earth as a bountiful supply of sustenance and sees our civilization as nothing more than ants crawling over a big juicy apple. Wouldn't they just wash us off?" (Earth being the Apple, in case you don't get it.)

Yep he also denied ET existence up until a few months ago, and now we should be prepared and not looking for trouble, why the change of opinion I wonder, could it be that the the very same people who keep the lid firmly shut on this topic have now finished with him? Funny how his views started changing since the LHC was up and running (albeit a short time). What are they really doing I wonder?

If that is true it is a clear sign there cannot be a god.

@ Post

I agree with the OP that we are indeed the most intelligent beings.

C'mon people lets take a lil perspective here. All these talks about UFOs from vastly advanced "alien" civilizations coming to earth and swooping up hillybilies and probing them in their backsides is weird.....aliens are clearly retarded



[edit on 12-7-2010 by Leonardo01]

Yep he also denied ET existence up until a few months ago, and now we should be prepared and not looking for trouble, why the change of opinion

Change of opinion? What are you talking about? Stephen Hawking has never once denied the existence of Alien life.

I wonder, could it be that the the very same people who keep the lid firmly shut on this topic have now finished with him?

Are you mentally incapable?

Funny how his views started changing since the LHC was up and running (albeit a short time).

His views never changed...

What are they really doing I wonder?

Legitimate Scientific Research. What did you think they were doing? Oh right, you probably think they're housing illegal aliens and interrogating them with torture methods to find out how there warp drive technology works.

Originally posted by Danbones
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

you are so right..great post

If another species was watching us of late..we would be the ones ridiculed in their schooling and teachings of not what to do living with your surrounding environment.

were a joke.

Ocker

I will bite, but this is the last post to you before you go on the ignore not because you disagree with me on the contrary. Any member that personally attacks me or other members aren't worth the time and effort in my opinion, it only demonstrates childish intellect to which I have no time for.

Stephen Hawkin has changed his mind on the following, LHC chances of a black hole emerging, ET, (not forthcoming, the way he has spoken about the other life is in a detremental/condescending manner, just like the many others in the Royal Society of Arts, however, recently they are changing their tunes. Also lets not forget about the controversial 'climate change' speech he gave in 2007. Yes he is a brilliant man, but there is no doubt in my mind he is a puppet being manipulated by 'TPTB'

Astronomers may learn, before this century is out, whether Darwinian evolution is a unique feature of the ‘pale blue dot’ in the cosmos that is our home - or whether Darwin’s writ runs, as Newton’s does, in the wider universe.

RSA change of opinion Source

[edit on 12-7-2010 by franspeakfree]

I will bite, but this is the last post to you before you go on the ignore not because you disagree with me on the contrary. Any member that personally attacks me or other members aren't worth the time and effort in my opinion, it only demonstrates childish intellect to which I have no time for.

I'm surprised that a member of a conspiracy theories site would actually consider putting someone on an ignore list simply for being rude. For all you know I'm a secret agent charged with the mission to spread mis-information on as many conspiracy related sites as I can.

I'm not really. And I'm sorry you were so offended by my question, it's just difficult to remain serious when your views and opinions are so outlandish compared to mine. I really do think what you said is borderline insane.

Stephen Hawkin has changed his mind on the following, LHC chances of a black hole emerging, ET, (not forthcoming, the way he has spoken about the other life is in a detremental/condescending manner, just like the many others in the Royal Society of Arts, however, recently they are changing their tunes. Also lets not forget about the controversial 'climate change' speech he gave in 2007. Yes he is a brilliant man, but there is no doubt in my mind he is a puppet being manipulated by 'TPTB'

I honestly don't see how Stephen Hawking's opinion on the LHC has anything to do with Alien life.

Give me one legitimate reference in which Stephen Hawking has denied the existence of Alien life. You won't be able to for the simple fact that he never has denied such a thing.

You believe Stephen Hawking is a puppet being manipulated by 'TPTB', really? Well, we're all entitled to our own opinions, and mine is that you should seriously consider a mental evaluation if you honestly believe such lunacy.

Does this mean all famous and extremely intelligent human beings are puppets of 'TPTB'. What happens? Is it a "He's become to intelligent for his own good, if this continues he could reveal the truth to the human population?"

Honestly, I want to know what you actually think.

I have considered the question.

Took me 30 seconds to conclude that there is No Way WE can be the most intelligent species in this Galaxy.

Humans are Dumb animals. Even our 'smart' ones like Einstein. We can do a few tricks. We assume because we are self aware we therefore must be intelligent and we have pulled off a few neat ones to our thinking like the Atomic Bomb and dominating the food chain on this planet. We are all a bunch of arrogant slow thinking sloths. We wage war on our fellow humans like mindless ants attacking a bread crumb.

I do not believe GOD would create such a dumb species and not create a smarter one someplace else. We are Gods circus freaks. Just because He made us in His image doesn't mean He gave us His intelligence.

Edit:

By The Way, I read the thread on the The Fermi Paradox. I believe Our Creator has created other beings smarter than us and there is no paradox. The paradox makes incorrect assumptions that there should be life everywhere and we should be able to see it (while at the same time contradicting itself because of the separation of these alien species by the vastness of space) -

Humans aren't ready to know about their neighbors yet. Look at our past history. Everything we have now we have because we were trained to slowly accept newer and newer ideas and concepts. I can take a lighter, or even a laptop back just a few hundred years ago wearing a jogging suit and I would seem like an alien. Those people would not be ready for those things that are commonplace today. Let's face it, God knows what he's doing here. He allows Man to experience the things he is ready for and not before. No paradox.. we just need to wait till our species catches up with the galactic Jones's.



[edit on 12-7-2010 by JohnPhoenix]

The difficulty of life existing on another planet in the Galaxy is very high. They would need a solar system with a planet in a fixed orbit that wasn't elliptical so the temperatures would be stable. The planet would need to spin at a rate that wasn't too slow or too fast. The star in the system would need to be stable and give off the correct spectrum of light. The planet would need to be the proper distance from the star. It would also seem to be a necessity that the solar system would have several other larger planets to help clean up random debris (comets, asteroids) that could wipe out life.

It's also quite possible that this planet would need to have a nearby moon that was up to 1/4 the size of the planet itself to help stabilize the orbit and the axis wobble. No other planets in our solar system have a moon of comparable planet/moon size-ratio. Could it be just a coincidence that this is the only planet with life? The difficulty of having such a large satellite in a stable orbit seems extremely high.

Having an infinite number of other planets doesn't necessarily guarantee that life would exist elsewhere. There could be an infinite number of incorrect conditions for life in the Universe without a single other instance of a correct one. The chance of the Earth being an anomaly in the Universe isn't unthinkable so the chance of the Earth being a one-off in the Galaxy is a fairly high.

Humans could be the most intelligent life in the Milky Way in our dimension. But there is definitely more out there. Searching rocky gas giants in our sun system for signs of microbes doesn't seem to make much sense does it? That doesn't excite me.

Originally posted by SaosinEngaged
Try to see it how I do: Intelligent, technologically advanced lifeforms HAVE to be somewhat rare.

And why is that? Since we know that the first planets were forming as early as 13.7 billion years ago, and using earth’s history as our example, this means the first technological singularity could have occurred as early as 10.7 billion years ago, or just 3 billion years after the Big Bang or a comfortable 5.5 billion years after.

This means a civilization, having passed through the bottleneck of a technological singularity, could have emerged as early as 4 to 6 billion years before our Sun was even born!

Now think of what we Earthlings have achieved in the last 100 years. Amazing technological advancements from science to medicine. Now imagine what a civilization 4-6 billion years more advanced than us would have achieved!

And probably spread out in the galaxy inhabiting thousands if not millions of worlds.

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.

Why would they be cooped up in 'gigantic' spaceships? They would have terraformed thousand of planets to make them habitable for colonization. They probably would use gigantic spaceships only for exploration purposes.

And then, could they have carved out small planetary bodies into huge spaceships? Now, I'm not hinting for a moment that any of OUR moons in the Solar System are spaceships!!

And if they're peaceful, I see no reason why they wouldn't announce themselves to all humanity.

And why should they? As it is we've got our hands full in this mud ball - from Osama Bin laden to the Gulf disaster! If I were them I would keep parsecs away!!

I think it's entirely possible we underestimate what our species is capable of.

Yep! Ask Halliburton and the Bilderbergs and the neo-cons and BP! We are capable of really screwing ourselves up!

[edit on 12-7-2010 by OrionHunterX]