Just simple musings, but I think that life is probably abundant. Intelligent life, however . . . of the sort that alters its environment, uses tools, and makes it out into space . . . now that is probably a bit more rare.
This guess is simply because most of the organisms we see on our planet are uniquely suited to their environment. When the environment undergoes a drastic change - the species goes extinct. So you would need a creature able to recognize that danger and adapt. You would need a creature capable of manipulating its environment to insure its own survival. You would almost certainly need a creature capable of working as a group - - although this could be commonplace. You would probably need an "underdog" -- a prey animal who had to develop weapons and various forms of protection to survive. It would need to develop the ability to think in the abstract, and the ability to imagine, to think in terms of future events. And you would need a creature that was curious, driven to explore.
Homo Sapiens (and Neanderthals and others) are unique partially because they fought for their own survival against the environment and against predators. We accomplished this be creating tools and shelters that helped us survive, and in those acts of creation, we created ourselves.
This guess is simply because most of the organisms we see on our planet are uniquely suited to their environment. When the environment undergoes a drastic change - the species goes extinct. So you would need a creature able to recognize that danger and adapt. You would need a creature capable of manipulating its environment to insure its own survival. You would almost certainly need a creature capable of working as a group - - although this could be commonplace. You would probably need an "underdog" -- a prey animal who had to develop weapons and various forms of protection to survive. It would need to develop the ability to think in the abstract, and the ability to imagine, to think in terms of future events. And you would need a creature that was curious, driven to explore.
Homo Sapiens (and Neanderthals and others) are unique partially because they fought for their own survival against the environment and against predators. We accomplished this be creating tools and shelters that helped us survive, and in those acts of creation, we created ourselves.
"The family that prays together...is brainwashing their children."- Albert Einstein
