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

reply to post by SaosinEngaged

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.

How can you - or we - be absolutely certain that this hasn't already happened here, a very, very long time ago? Possibly continuing today even.

reply to post by Super Chubby



Thanks for the comments (thank you all for making this a great thread).

Yes, I do try to keep in kind just how massive our galaxy really is, and as I mentioned in the OP I really do believe it's full of life; just not necessarily Klingons. You know?

Been really busy the last few days, but I'll try to engage some comments here tomorrow!

Thanks everyone.

Originally posted by IamBoon
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.

correct, but still means that we have possibility of increasing the brains function and speed.

Statistically speaking, we are a realtively young planet and star system in our Galaxy. I would thinkg we are millions of years behind other star systems and their Civilizations.

.....And if we are the most intelligent species.... then Lord help the rest of the Milky Way.......I just can't wait till other civilizations start receiving our transmissions of all of our talk and reality shows.

if that were true theres no hope for us

Out of the some 400 billion stars in our galaxy, there are billions that are older than our own. There are planets that could have evolved 10 times smarter than us, and collapsed, thousands of times over, over time.

So.. no, I don't think we are the "smartest," not by a long shot. Are are still practically infants for crying out loud. We will hate people based on their personal beliefs, and even the color of their skin. How are we so "advanced?"

Originally posted by dbatesThey would need a solar system with a planet in a fixed orbit ... 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 ... proper distance from the star ... would have several other larger planets to help clean up random debris (comets, asteroids) that could wipe out life..

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.

Infinite incorrect conditions? I guess we see it differently, you see incorrect conditions I see different conditions. Just because other planets don't share the EXACT same conditions as Earth doesn't mean lifeforms can't be living there. Just look at our own planet and how many different things live in different areas. In caves without sunlight, the deepest trenches of the oceans, in the middle of the desert, deep in the forest, high in the mountains... they all have to deal with different elements. We're still discovering lifeforms on this planet that have evolved to deal with lack of whatever, some don't even need oxygen. Who's to say lifeforms on other planets haven't been formed/evolved to deal with the conditions of their planet?

The only thing that could be an issue is having planets/moons around them to help shield them from danger. Everything else could be whatever and it wouldn't matter because of evolution but the threat of being destroyed by large rocks or ice moving through the skies would always be a problem. Who knows though, they could still exist in a place without that protection or they may not even have that issue. I believe anything is possible out there as we've not even seen a speck of it in the grand scheme of it all.



As for the OP, no doubt there is more intelligent life out there. Is it in the Milky Way? Given that we have ~300 billion stars in our vast galaxy I'd say it's completely possible there's more intelligent life out there. I think we've already been visited at least once before. Of course, that isn't a necessity for being more intelligent, just going on about my thoughts.

reply to post by SaosinEngaged


Sure and when we were created all of a sudden we have mathematics and we have advanced civilization. I believe there are higher beings than us. But for intelligent beings we sure can't fix our society problems.

Did someone mention that dolphins are the number two intelligent species? We like to think we are better but I don't see any dolphins destroying the environment in the pursuit of profit. I can't remember the last time I saw a dolphin with a crack pipe and I'm pretty sure that dolphins didn't invade Iraq.

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

Yeah, but my intelligence also tells me that if WE exist, then THEY DO TOO.

reply to post by SaosinEngaged

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

15 Billions years for, cellphone, cars, airplane and PC?
Really a sad Univese!

Originally posted by Arken
reply to post by SaosinEngaged

 

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

15 Billions years for, cellphone, cars, airplane and PC?

Really a sad Univese!

Still quite the achievement if you consider we're all derived from stardust.

I doubt it. That would be pretty depressing. Plus I think there is so much evidence for visitation to our planet.

Originally posted by SaosinEngaged

Originally posted by Arken
reply to post by SaosinEngaged

 

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

15 Billions years for, cellphone, cars, airplane and PC?

Really a sad Univese!

Still quite the achievement if you consider we're all derived from stardust.

You know how many moons, planets, stars, black holes, star systems there are in your little avatar image, SaosinEngaged?

reply to post by SaosinEngaged


Does it ever occur to you thousand or perhaps billion years ago, we are cavemen and our intelligent is no better than a dolphin or a dog until we discovered fire, hunting and tools?

Are we intelligent? That's news to me!!

I think that sometimes we (humans) sell ourselves a bit short and are always thinking that ET is more intelligent than we are.

Give humans more credit imo

A jolly interesting idea OP and an obvious S+F for you. It is something I have pondered myself over the years but I constantly come back to something I read on a T-shirt once, "Absence of evidence isn't evidence of absence."

To the posters who constantly refer to humans as "not intelligent," well, intelligence is relative. By our own yardstick (Earth) we are clearly intelligent. The problem a lot of people make is presuming that intelligence would necessarily preclude the prospect of ignorance when it is obvious in our case that at this point in time, we are supremely ignorant. The two are not mutually exclusive, it is perfectly feasible that an intelligent species (such as our own) is ignorant and likewise an ignorant species can be intelligent, perhaps simply not intelligent enough to recognise it's ignorance in any meaningful way. Of course there is a "third way," which I firmly believe applies to the human race. We are intelligent, we are ignorant BUT we are too arrogant to recognise and acknowledge our ignorance as a race (but not as individuals!).

To the question at hand, "Could we be the most intelligent species in our Galaxy?" This of course presumes a lot and the question is a difficult one. The sheer number of variables that have come together in just the right way to give rise to us is mind boggling and it can be difficult to imagine another place where the right conditions have ever existed. However the universe has a trick up its sleeve that applies to our Galaxy, SCALE. The chances of YOU winning the lottery are tiny but the scale of the number of people playing almost guarantees a winner. The universe operates in exactly the same way, the chances of it happening are tiny but the sheer number of attempts the universe makes almost (ALMOST) guarantees success.

If this is so....


I weep for our Galaxy.

We can't be the most intelligent species out there... We created twilight and Miley Cyrus... I cling on to that hope that there is a smarter civilization, and they just keep ignoring us.