re: #86 Targetpractice, Worst of Both Worlds

Remember reading an argument the other day that we, as in humanity, may in fact be the first intelligent species to evolve to this level. That we’re the “Precursor” species whose existence will one guide others to the stars.

That’s assuming we don’t blow ourselves up in the process.

Assuming ourselves to be all the way at the very tippy edge of the bell curve seems to be unwarranted, I would think. Given the number of stars out there, that seems like an incredibly unlikely thing to happen, no?

This strikes me as just another version of the “we are special” line of thinking, which never struck me as particularly compelling. What if we have already been discovered by myriad other technologically advanced civilizations, and dismissed as far to dumb to be worth interacting with?