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That seems much more convincing, that intelligent life evolves easy and often enough, but the level of intelligence required to observe or signal other planets

That seems much more convincing, that intelligent life evolves easy and often enough, but the level of intelligence required to observe or signal other planets is completely unnecessary for survival, so there’s no pressure to evolve to that level. There’s a joke in Hitchhikers Guide that says dolphins are the most intelligent species on earth, to which the response is how can that be, all they do is happily swim around all day… … yes, exactly, they’re the most intelligent species on the planet.

Ancapistani 4y ago
> the level of intelligence required to observe or signal other planets is completely unnecessary for survival, so there’s no pressure to evolve to that level. Ah, but humans today are fully capable of guiding our own evolution toward whatever goal we desire as a group, regardless of "fitness". Perhaps there is a threshold of intelligence that, once reached, allows the possibility of that species becoming more intelligent and capable over time.