How much intelligent life is there?

[Ziggy Stardust]

Would you consider a planet of sidhes as intelligent life?

Yes.

I would. But not necessarily 'intellectual' life.

*takes step back from can of worms*

How about a planet full of monkeys that use sign language? Intelligent or no?

Depends. If it is the same sort of sign language our own monkeys use, maybe. Most animals have some form of intelligence.

I have always found the term "intelligent life" more than a little fuzzy. So imo you had a good point when you asked to define "intelligent". It can be anywhere from something just more coherent as bacteria to superdooperbrainy aliens.

 

[Quiet Sound]

Every attempt to find life on another planet has been proven to be fruitless. There has not been one contact made even though we are sending out radio waves out to the farthest reaches of the universe...

Radio astronomy, i.e. that by which astronomical radio signals would be detected, has only even existed since the 1930s and has only been a major endeavor since the 1970s. Had there been a thousand detectable signals every day from elsewhere in the galaxy prior to that, we would never know it. Our galaxy is approximately 100,000 light years across. That is, it would take a radio signal about 100,000 years to cross from one end to the other, or 200,000 years for the original broadcaster to receive a reply. Most of the galaxy does not lie within a range that would allow us to have received a reply to our broadcasts by today even if one had been sent.

 

[Ecofarm]

If chimps are unintelligent, I hardly think anything else qualifies. Dolphins or whales? So you mean human equal minimum (or more?)?

 

[holy king]

Chimps use tools. So do several very unintelligent species.

i think the requirement usually is defined as "adapted tools".

the first ones in use by humans were hand axes.

 

[MobBoss]

If chimps are unintelligent, I hardly think anything else qualifies. Dolphins or whales? So you mean human equal minimum (or more?)?

I am asking what do you consider 'intelligent'.

If we found a planet full of chimps would that qualify?

 

[Murky]

We don't currently have enough information to make an accurate determination. Best guess is that we're not alone in either the galaxy or the universe. If we're an example of intelligent life, then the number of concurrent technological advanced species is likely to be low because we have shown a tendency to screwup our own living environment.

 

[holy king]

If we found a planet full of chimps would that qualify?

also, would they be able to write a shakespeare play, given enough typewriters?

 

[Quiet Sound]

If we're an example of intelligent life, then the number of concurrent technological advanced species is likely to be low because we have shown a tendency to screwup our own living environment.

Nah, we're doing just fine. Compared to blue-green algae at least.

 

[theskald]

That is ridiculous.

Yeah, Drake's equation is stupid, though I'm not sure if that means Frank Drake is.

And I have to ask, does "intelligence" necessarily require thought and "sapience" as it is observed in humans? Does it necessarily imply that it works the same way?

 

[El_Machinae]

Once intelligence evolves, I'm of the opinion that it can be the target of runaway selection. If the environment can handle it, I think the progression from a Theory of Mind and Tool Use to 'civilization' is merely a matter of time. Relatively quick, at that.

 

[Ziggy Stardust]

i think the requirement usually is defined as "adapted tools".

That sounds reasonable enough. You got yourself a deal.

 

[North King]

Yeah, Drake's equation is stupid, though I'm not sure if that means Frank Drake is.

Actually, Drake's equation is just about the best thing we have around for this estimate, and should in fact hold true... if we knew any of the values.

 

[MagisterCultuum]

I say there are probably a few million intelligent individuals total.

 

[Earthling]

I'd like to think there is significant amounts of intelligent life out there, but it's also way to early to tell anything. We're first looking at it from the perspective of not having discovered any life elsewhere, but it is a misinterpretation to say that we are thus really rare because we haven't explored enough. In a few hundred years if we've seriously investigated some thousands of star systems and found no evidence of life, we could make a better estimate on how rare it is in the galaxy (and a few thousand stars near us is still nothing compared to its overall size). Likewise, if we discovered any sort of life on a single planet out there somewhere that would help us entirely revise our predictions. But right now there could be life a scant few light years away (like <50, further out especially would have systems we know very little about) that is still undetected.

As for intelligence, I could see calling animals analogous to chimps or dolphins at the "intelligent" stage, because in the lifetime of the galaxy they may only be a million or so years away. Civilization like ours makes it obvious but on Earth just 50,000 years ago alien explorers could have missed us entirely (humans weren't even spread throughout the world, like at the Americas yet). My vote in the poll is more focused on civilization level intelligence but if we count slightly less advanced organisms then I think there could easily be more.

 

[El_Machinae]

Regarding the Fermi Paradox: is there a good reason why all the missing matter in the universe couldn't be variants on the Dyson Spheres he envisioned?

 

[theskald]

Actually, Drake's equation is just about the best thing we have around for this estimate, and should in fact hold true... if we knew any of the values.

Hence my opinion! I concede that it would be pretty handy if we knew everything about the galaxy. Then again, if we did, we wouldn't need it.

 

[warpus]

I am asking what do you consider 'intelligent'.

If we found a planet full of chimps would that qualify?

How about a species that has produced a civilization of some sort?.. be it an empire, a planet-reaching culture, or even just a couple cities.

 

[LucyDuke]

For sure, greater than zero.

Past that, I have a hunch that there are a whole lot more, but I realize the supporting arguments are not watertight, so I can't honestly call it anything more than a hunch.

There is no way to try to make any sort of educated guess based on some formula. There is nothing to back up the formula. No stats, as perfy said. It is indeed just pulling numbers out of orifices.

That said, I don't think we're alone. I base this on absolutely nothing scientific, but rather just a belief that it is human arrogance taken to the extreme to presume that out of all his glorious creation, God chose this puny little rock alone to seed with life.

I pretty much agree with V, except I don't ascribe this whole universe thing to a distinct "creator". V's words were more poetic than my general agreement with warpus's assessment.

It does not even involve my ass.

Then why bother?

I believe it takes more faith to believe that there is life outside of this planet than it does to say that God created life on earth and earth for a place to live with all the righ conditions for life to survive.

That's astonishing.

 

[theskald]

How about a species that has produced a civilization of some sort?.. be it an empire, a planet-reaching culture, or even just a couple cities.

Does intelligence also imply social behavior, then? And human-like social behavior? Sorry to interrupt, just curious.

 

[North King]

Hence my opinion! I concede that it would be pretty handy if we knew everything about the galaxy. Then again, if we did, we wouldn't need it.

Uh, no. If we had something like a mere hundredth of the galaxy explored, we'd have a billion data points, which is enough to make a pretty good guess about the rest of the galaxy. So it'd be useful if we were anything besides the civilization barely out of the cradle that we are.

Regarding the Fermi Paradox: is there a good reason why all the missing matter in the universe couldn't be variants on the Dyson Spheres he envisioned?

Well, the "missing" matter is distributed pretty oddly for that to be the case, IIRC. I don't really regard dark matter as "missing", though.