Also worth pointing out that this applies to some potential 'Great Filter' events that we haven't yet encountered. If intelligent cultures don't explore the uni

Also worth pointing out that this applies to some potential 'Great Filter' events that we haven't yet encountered. If intelligent cultures don't explore the universe because they destroy their own planets in destructive wars as soon as they have that level of technology, then conditional on our existing, we should expect to be the first such culture to evolve on our planet. If on the other hand, most intelligent cultures neglect to explore the universe because they are busy with art, contemplation or hedonism, we might expect to exist in a world where hyperintelligent dinosaurs, frogs and cephalopods are already sitting around enjoying these things. The fact that they aren't means that maybe our current stage of evolution was hard to reach.