The fact that the solar system has sat around for 4 billion years without being eaten by Von Neumann machines makes me pretty certain that we're alone Were the

The fact that the solar system has sat around for 4 billion years without being eaten by Von Neumann machines makes me pretty certain that we're alone Were these your words, or not? You're projecting human flaws and attributes on an advanced race that would, by necessity, be almost nothing like humans. It simply does not follow that because the solar system has not (yet) been turned into grey goo, we must be alone in the galaxy.