Suppose we are the smartest organism/thing/enitity in the universe. If this were true, how do people feel about it? knowing that we are it! we are on the edge, the very forefront of intelligence, i find it comforting, but highly improbable(also what would be the probability of us being the smartest?) ps, would that necessarily mean that we would survive as the species who would dominate the universe one day? what would it mean for us? for you.
In my mind it is just as probable as improbable. It's also possible that we are not the most intelligent species in our galaxy at least but that we are the most advanced technology-wise, which would later give us the ability to conquer the galaxy and annex every lower race that we encountered into our greater Imperium. Ahh...the stuff of scifi...I love it!
Think of the insects in that movie from hollywood, what if a more simple lifeform with less intelligence but more instinct and brute development on a grande scale, killed us?
I think only we could kill ourselves. If there is a change in our culture that forces us to look outward rather than inward nothing, not hordes of mindless insects or fantastic machines of superior intelligences could keep us from being on top of the food chain. It's the positive aspect of mass space travel and colonization and conquest.
RE:Nebuchadnezzaar It is really hard to imagine that we are the smartest. We play chess 64 fields...it can be played much more difficult (eg.64.000 fields) by (future) computers (or aliens). Inteligence of the humans is pretty low - more admirable is the capacity to (appreciate) beauty and the capacity to experience the "dramatic" element of life. Life is (exceptional and) most fascinating on that level.
I beg to differ. Human intelligence is not low, we have the best problem solving abilities, the greatest creativity among so many other unique traits that, as far as we know, are unequalled. Only our dead ancestors came anywhere near what we as a species and, more importantly, as a civilization have both accomplished and destroyed.
Re: RE:Nebuchadnezzaar i'd love to play chess with 64,00 fields, bring it on, it sounds fun. appreciation of beauty if overated, you either got it or ya don't, there is a cut off.
Re: Pullux V Let me adjust your entry to the level of bacteria one week before the discovery of peniciline: <i>I beg to differ. Bacterian intelligence is not low, we have the best problem solving abilities, the greatest creativity among so many other unique traits that, as far as we know, are unequalled. Only our dead ancestors came anywhere near what we as a species and, more importantly, as a bacterial collony have both accomplished and destroyed</i>
BS not true the worst thing ever said, put on your happy cap young lady your with us, the human species, we make music, you listen to it, we have Seinfeld, a funny jewish person if you haven't heard of him, we have sports to play, many many sports and if your not into that you can go shopping, and if you don't have money you can have sex, and if you don't have a boyfriend or a girlfriend you can have a wank, you have an imagination, or you can read a book, and if again you don't enough money you an write a story or some beautiful poetry, and if you don't have enough money for that you can walk to the beach and enjoy the atmosphere, and if you don't live near a beach then you can find a nice place to lie down and enjoy the stars at night(because most likely you don't live in a major city on the coast((stereotype)) ), those beautiful stars, to think that US BEING THE BEST in the universe as a silly scary and even SAD fact, how rude, i don't velieve in God at all, i don't have a mother anymore, but I STILL believe that there is so much good on this earth, sure there is a lot of bad, but it doesn't matter even if there is more bad it only makes the good look better, just sit and take a look at any schoolyard full children playing, then when the bell rings, most of them going off too learn together, this happens everywhere all over the world everyday!!! and has gone on for centuries, this is beautiful, there are a million trillion awasome examples of the beauty of the human race, SURE there are the same amount for the bad, but these are comparisons, and things which we learn from, i think if we did turn out to be the smartest in the universe it would be fitting.
"we have Seinfeld, a funny jewish person if you haven't heard of him" Thank you for reminding me... Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!
I bet there's a race of aliens watching us right now. -'What y'a say zork, I'll bet you ten blorgs that they they blow up their planet before they invent cold fusion.' -'You must take me for a complete idiot'
I would find it disturbing. We're so destructive, to ourselves and our surroundings. I (roughly) remember the words of a good friend of mine: "If humans are the smartest beings in the universe, then the universe is doomed." However, I also find it highly improbable that we're all there is. The Drake Equation proves this to me. I take comfort in that. It's possible that, if we were the only beings in the universe, we'd exist long enough to spread our domain out to the stars. I think that if we expanded to the stars, it would mean our chances of existance would greatly improve. If one of the planets we inhabited suddenly became uninhabitable, that's okay, kuz we are also living on other planets away from harm. Therefore, we may never go extinct. We will quite possibly exist until the universe ends (if it will). This probably won't mean much to me, kuz I might not even live quite long enough to have a chance to walk on the moon as an average Joe and not as an astronaut. But the supposed fact that we're all there is doesn't guarantee this destiny. A killer meteor may hit us. Or we may blow ourselves up. It's kinda sad to think about.
Or to put it another way, "The surest sign that intelligent life exists out there is that none of it has tried to contact us"
The way I think of it is, if we are not unique in this universe..then there will be millions of civilisations. (i.e. if we're here due to evolution rather than God). If there are millions of civilisations then there would have been some that developed radio technology right at the beginning of the universe, and we would have heard from them by now. Why haven't we?
Signal to noise ratio. Both the sun and Jupiter put out a lot of radio noise, and the same is doubtless true of many other suns/gas giants. I'm not particularly suprised radio signals haven't been received.
Are humans the “smartest” living things in the universe? Yes. The reason is that we have philosophy. Humans are conscientious of their existence (or possible non existence). There can be no greater physical being at that level. There may be creatures with bigger brains able to calculate more, hold information and even have telekinesis powers but is that really a measure of intelligence? It’s also true that we will probably destroy ourselves one day but we are aware that we are doing it. We know that we are fucking up. The reason we have wars and are killing our environment is not that we are stupid as a species. It’s just that we can’t help it. It’s our nature. Humans are evolving with the ability to learn anything. It’s just a matter of time and evolution (if humans survive) before we know all the secrets of the universe.
I always hoped that there was another civilization out there that we could learn from, interact with. To know we are it, is a little disconserning. However the likelyhood of us learning from the mistakes of others is even less likely as learning from the mistakes made ourselves.
Considering the unrealized potential for our own intelligence and the likelyhood of there being intelligent life out there somewhere (an increasing trend), chances are we are not the smartest, or at least there will eventually be a more intelligent species at some point.
