Actually, I think I may have done this one before. But it's going to take too long to search the archives to make sure. I'm sure it's been a while. And it works for I...
What if we are the most intelligent life in the universe?
Today's A to Z Challenge post brought to you by the letter...
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I believe we are the most intelligent life in the universe, except for watching tv and seeing Star Wars etc. lol Thanks for your visit through a-z. Could I suggest you leave the url to your actual blog post vs your dashboard, that way people can visit you in one click instead of two.
ReplyDeleteLeaving you a hyper link, since you don't have name and url active...otherwise you'll go to my dashboard and have to click multiple times. (I have several blogs)
Traveling Suitcase A-Z
But what if there were aliens?
DeleteLOL. With or without the full capacity of our brains--because you know we only skim the surface in the percentage we use. =)
ReplyDeleteIt wouldn't surprise me if the the confluence of events required for intelligent life to appear was rare. But it would sure be disappointing if we're the smartest the universe has to offer.
ReplyDeleteOh boy what a question. My first thought was geez I certainly hope not! But then again, what if there is some super intelligent species without what we call a conscience or compassion that eventually finds us in our little corner of the universe and decides we are not worth the oxygen on our planet and wipe us out. hypothetical questions make my mind race...
ReplyDeleteIt's a good question.
ReplyDeleteWe could be the most intelligent because we are the only life, or we could be the most intelligent because other life isn't as advanced as us.
The latter is more interesting. That would make aliens kind of like American Indians or South Americans, etc., when Europeans met them -- not that Euro explorers were more intelligent but they were more advanced. Given our history it seems likely we'd at least TRY to colonize and/or subjugate them. It'd be nice to think we're past that, but the reason slavery and colonization were allowed was because other races were deemed inferior to humans or even non human.
Look at how we treat dolphins, and chimpanzees, and other fairly intelligent animals: like animals. If we met aliens who didn't resemble humans, and they weren't as advanced as us, how easy would it be to treat THEM like animals, too? Probably very easy, for many people.
Then there are the religious folk. I'm religious but not like the superreligious people who might pull out the "God meant us to have dominion over..." theology. It's used to keep gays from marrying and allow people to hit kids; why wouldn't the Bible be pulled out to justify subjugating nonhuman aliens?
I know that's a pessimistic thought, but I'd say it's pretty accurate. Our history hasn't shown that we're kind to people we can classify as inferior and nonhuman.
I was thinking the second choice, but I leave these questions open to your interpretation. And you're probably right about how we'd treat any aliens we might encounter. It's probably a good thing we don't have the capability to reach them.
DeleteWow, this is an interesting questions. That could have to be a subjective question on how we define intelligence. Gonna have to think a bit on this!
ReplyDeletebetty
Thought provoking question ! need to think a little more on intelligence, and how we define it ....
ReplyDeleteYeah, how you define "intelligence" makes a big difference to how the question can be answered. If it can be answered.
DeleteIf humans are the most intelligent life in the universe, then the Universe is royally screwed!
ReplyDeleteThanks for visiting Poetry of the Netherworld.
I suppose it could be worse.
DeleteI can't think very long about other life out there, other worlds. It makes me crazy.
ReplyDeleteThanks for visiting my blog yesterday.
Wendy at Jollett Etc.
Feel privileged and enjoy our power of intelligence !
ReplyDeleteI like this answer. It's more positive than some of them have been.
DeleteSometimes my teenage son surprises me with his intelligence;-D
ReplyDeleteTeenagers can be more thoughtful than we might expect. I see that every day.
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