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There are solar systems much older than the Earth. Evolution is definitely not linear. See punctuated equilibrium and mass extinction events. And there are mill
by Houshalter 13y ago
There are solar systems much older than the Earth. Evolution is definitely not linear. See punctuated equilibrium and mass extinction events. And there are millions of species on the planet. Evolution has branched many times. If that was true every branch should evolve in a similar direction at the same rate, but that doesn't seem to be the case at all.
- joe_the_user 13y agoDefine much, earth is more than half the age of the universe. And another possibility is earth life came from off-planet - quite possible if life is common in the universe. Punctured equilibrium is a good theory to explain particular species diversity and morphology. It may or may explain increases in complexity as such and there may or may not be a tendency for the various jumps to even each other out over time. I'm arguing I know such a theory is true, just that things are so complex that no theory is definitive.
- Houshalter 13y agoBut even if you are correct, there could still be civilizations several millions of years older than us. Earth's history would have turned out completely differently if it wasn't for various asteroid impacts and geological events. The chance of two intelligent species evolving within a few thousand years of each other is pretty low.