Philosophical conversations along the topic of intelligent life in the universe, other than humans is rather interesting. It is a fun thing to think about and it can keep your mind busy for hours. Plus, it might give you insight into your own life, and the things around you, thus, giving you a better perspective on all that is. Not long ago an acquaintance, and I were discussing this, and he posed the following question;

“Let us explore a little bit the possibility that we are un-intelligent in comparison to other forms of life in the universe?”

His hypothetical went something like this; let’s say there was an intelligent life form that was 200 million years ahead of where we are today. He didn’t say if it was our future, or the future of humans, or what we evolved into, rather he just pose the question. It could be something like that, or it could be something different. We could meet our future, as it came back to help us, or change the way we do things to prevent a future catastrophe.

Indeed, I said sure this would be a fun thing to think about, however before we do, you must realize that being ahead 200 million years may not mean they are more intelligent; example the fish or Dinosaurs. Now then, let’s take my acquaintances hypothetical question and stated another way; “What if humans are really stupid and we meet a much more intelligent life form?”

Why would this bother anybody?

One could suppose that it would very much bother people who were highly religious, but it probably wouldn’t bother anybody else. In fact, if we consider Drake’s Equation, and some of the folks who have recently come up with updated versions of it, the chances of meeting a life form that is more intelligent than humans is actually probably 99%, that is if humans do not die off.

Now the universe is large and vast, so it may or may not happen in our lifetime. But that does not negate the question, which allows us a great philosophical set of conversations on the topic. So please consider all this.