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Maybe the longer term results are different. If the Fermi Paradox is a thing, perhaps our brand of intelligence - the combination of brains and dexterity and en
by danjac 6y ago
Maybe the longer term results are different. If the Fermi Paradox is a thing, perhaps our brand of intelligence - the combination of brains and dexterity and environment that let us quickly advance from sophisticated tool building to a global industrial economy - is an evolutionary dead end and species that have gone down this path destroy their ecosystem and themselves along with it inside a few thousand years.
Whereas other intelligent species that lack the environment or manual dexterity to even light a fire will keep on going long after we're extinct.
- Shared404 6y agoThis reminds me of the discussion a while ago about how efficiency and robustness are at odds. It's the same thing, but on a much grander scale.
- BjoernKW 6y agoThe opposite could also be true: Our brand of intelligence - the combination of brains and dexterity and environment that let us quickly advance from sophisticated tool building to a global industrial economy - is precisely the rare Goldilocks combination of features that allows a civilisation to spread throughout the universe. Because that combination is incredibly rare we might very well be the first to be poised to attempt to do so. This is the strong anthropic principle at play, which of course could be taken with a grain of salt. Still, this scenario nicely answers the question "Where is everyone?", too.