Cosmic ponderings on intelligent life, or lack there of.

Oh, yeah Homo Sapiens the most advanced life form on the planet. Somewhere the dinosaurs are laughing their asses off.




There is been much in the way of discussion among the various science types about whether we are alone in the universe or that out there among the stars is an untold amount of other intelligent species pursuing their hopes and dreams. Those science types here on earth with absolutely no life at all have at times run the numbers on several factors that make up Fermi’s Paradox and figured out that some little green man, women, or whatever should have at some point dropped by Earth for a visit. Their absence has lead many of the egghead boys and girls to ponder the option that we are indeed alone in the cosmos. Now I’m fine to a certain extent with no Klingons, Romulans, or heaven forbid the freaking Borg showing up in orbit and blasting us with their ray guns and then sucking our brains out. But upon watching my fellow humans for years and just about coming to the conclusion that given how I must be crazy since most everyone else I’m around to me acts insane and I can’t be the only sane person around I have come to a different answer.

I have been bouncing the idea around in my head for awhile that contrary to the usual presumption the human race is not an intelligent species. Yes, human beings have and still do write great works of literature, paint glorious works of art, write majestic works of music, build cities, and explore both the deep seas and outer space, none of this is under debate. But given how we are causing global warming due to uncontrolled burning of oil so one person can ride in comfort in their SUV’s, driving a huge number of plants and animals extinct for stupid reasons like using powdered rhino horn to get your woody going, killing fellow humans over religious and political reasons, and electing strange unintelligent mutant throwbacks to national office quite frankly I think the question needs to be debated. On a recent Discovery channel show one of my favorite authors, David Brin, pondered what might take our place on the planet if we, humans, should disappear. Not quoting him here but he said something to the effect that yes, another intelligent species (at least how we see intelligence) might evolve but another possibility is that a species that he described as “clever” might arise with the ability to use simple tools, organize group efforts, and learn basic principles of the world around them but not be sentient, or at least that is the basic jest of what he was trying to say. Many times since that show as the daily boneheaded antics of humanity played out on the nightly news I have wondered if humans are just “clever” animals with our civilization relatively speaking to some advanced alien zipping around the galaxy no more advance than how we look upon the chimpanzees as the go about their daily lives.

In my weird way I can see some intrepid alien Captain Kirk, cruising the galaxy looking for new life forms, civilizations, and smoking hot alien babes to bag and then have them stumbling upon or little blue marble. The most likely response they would have, apart from blasting us into oblivion, would be how some city people act when they have strayed too far off the interstate and into the more rural area of the south where family trees are rather straight up and down affairs with few branches. They might slow down for a minute as they pass through seeing all the bizarre creatures. Then they would turn around and rush back the way they came to tell others that no, there is no intelligent life in this part of the interstellar boonies.