Within the context of the animal kingdom, our species' position is clear. Aside from a disproportionately large brain, we're fairly ordinary mammals. However we should also consider ourselves to be a member of a very different group - those species, scattered throughout the universe, which ponder the existence of life beyond their own planet. Given the vast scale of the universe, this group is likely to be even more numerous and diverse than our own animal kingdom. Which begs the question: how should we expect to stack up against these other intelligent species?
To seek an answer with only the help of a single data point (us) may seem futile. But when it comes to predicting natural occurrences, we're often playing a game with loaded dice. And these weighted dice can prove to be extremely profitable, because they are much easier to master than fair dice.
Within the context of the animal kingdom, our species' position is clear. Aside from a disproportionately large brain, we're fairly ordinary mammals. However we should also consider ourselves to be a member of a very different group - those species, scattered throughout the universe, which ponder the existence of life beyond their own planet. Given the vast scale of the universe, this group is likely to be even more numerous and diverse than our own animal kingdom. Which begs the question: how should we expect to stack up against these other intelligent species?
It is not just a joke.
I think they existed or maybe they still exist. Or perhaps they will come into existence in future and travel back in time, maybe our own species develops into them in that future.
Maybe they are who we call gods.
