Intelegent life in the Universe, how common is it?

[JohnT]

I think the question we should worry about is whether there is intelligent life on Apolyton.

[Lancer]

Well, there's MtG...

[Ben Kenobi]

He fits the intelligent criterion, but I'm not so sure about the life bit.

[Boris Godunov]

Originally posted by Ben Kenobi
Then how can they be 'better' or 'worse?'

Um, "better" or "worse" at surviving in their evolutionary niche. You know, one of those crucial points of how natural selection works?

[Ben Kenobi]

Then the dinosaurs sucked hard when the environment changed.

Natural Selection is a blind force, that cannot say that any one species is better than another, without reference to their environment.

A species may be more successful, but certainly not 'better' in any intrinsic sense.

[Boris Godunov]

Originally posted by Ben Kenobi
A species may be more successful, but certainly not 'better' in any intrinsic sense.

Terms like "better" or "worse" not used intrinsically wrt to evolutionary mechanisms. They are used, however, and the implication when they are used is that it is in reference to the evolutionary niche.

However, it's possible to suggest even an extinct animal would be better suited to a particular environment than we are, were it fortunate enough to be around. This seems to be what Odin is suggesting (on what basis, I've no idea). It's also possible to see superior "design" in other species. For instance, the squid eye is better designed than our own.

[Ben Kenobi]

For instance, the squid eye is better designed than our own.

In what way?

Is it more sensitive to light?

[Boris Godunov]

Originally posted by Ben Kenobi
In what way?

The lens doesn't flip the image as ours does. This means there are less mechanisms in the eye required for image processing (since ours has to flip the image back). Less moving parts = less opportunity for system glitches and failures. So squids don't suffer from many of the degenerative eye problems humans do as shown here: http://www.athro.com/evo/eyes1.html

[Blake]

This poll really needed a There is no intelligent life on Earth option.

However, pretty darn rare. I would say currentely-sentient lifeforms in this galaxy possibly measure prehaps in the dozens.

There is probably quite a lot of pre-sentient life and some post-sentient life (that is, life that considers us pre-sentient and have long since stopped using radio waves or anything detectable by us)

It's also possible the Universe is full of gravity-fearing energy-based space monsters that eat radio transmissions from Intelligent life, thus preventing the intelligent life ever noticing each other.

[Odin]

Originally posted by Blake

It's also possible the Universe is full of gravity-fearing energy-based space monsters that eat radio transmissions from Intelligent life, thus preventing the intelligent life ever noticing each other.

[Ben Kenobi]

This means there are less mechanisms in the eye required for image processing (since ours has to flip the image back).

I don't see what your link has to do with the point.

What would need to be done with our eyes in order to make us see like a squid?

[Dr Strangelove]

So far most of the planets discovered outside of our solar system have been huge, around Saturn sized, and having orbits as close in to their respective suns as Venus or Mercury. Based on that information alone I don't think that life is likely to be very common.

[Edan]

Intelligent life isn't that common here, why would it be any more common out there.

Originally posted by Dr Strangelove
So far most of the planets discovered outside of our solar system have been huge, around Saturn sized, and having orbits as close in to their respective suns as Venus or Mercury.

Maybe that's because it's easier to spot huge Saturn sized planets?

[Darkstar]

Well, there's a few planet spotters going up soon... stuff to spot earth mass worlds in the critical zone for water to be WET.

Most of the planets found have been Jovian or better in size to date because we've just started to watch for the wiggle in a star's path which is caused by "large" orbitting masses. The bigger the mass and the CLOSER it is to its star, the more it makes its mother star wiggle, and that means its faster for us to find it.

Using that same technique while watching OUR star, from say our nearest neighbors (Proxima Centauri, perhaps), you'd have to watch a *long* time to determine this star system has Jovians. At least 8 years to spot Jupiter pushing around our sun... Full orbits are required to see the wiggle.

Intelligent life isn't common here? There's all those smart mammals! Heck, even some of our birds are fairly smart by our measurement.

Remember, intelligence lets species overcome drastic situations in their environment that they aren't equipped by genetic programming to defeat. So intelligence will always be a pro evolutionary force anywhere there is significant variation in the ecology.

[St Leo]

Are we talking intelligent as in dolphins frolicking in the sea or intelligent as in humans building New York and selling Big Macs?