> You certainly don't want to be in a galaxy where someone else does it first: if you can't coëxist with them, you're probably going to be wiped out. Why the p

> You certainly don't want to be in a galaxy where someone else does it first: if you can't coëxist with them, you're probably going to be wiped out. Why the pessimism? We do know that we currently do not have any plans for massive expansion through the whole Milky Way, and even if we made such plans, we would definitely include safe zones and ample space for other species we might encounter. If we are that good, maybe other species are no less good? That's not an unreasonable assumption, though ultimately anthropocentric, of course. But the point I was trying to make was different. I should have said "There is not enough reason". There are just as many hypothetical reasons for as there are against. We really don't know. >expansionist pressure seems to be the safe assumption. Then again, the universe is very, very large...