Once life is established, is the evolution of intelligence inevitable? (continued)
Garry Trethewey
Cherryville, South Australia
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Probably not. Wings have evolved four times 鈥� in birds, bats, pterosaurs and insects. Legs and eyes have also evolved multiple times. Swimming ability has also evolved many times.
But intelligence has only evolved once, very recently. Is it useful? Is it a survival trait? Is it somehow better than not-intelligence? Given the 8 billion of us versus the vastly greater numbers of microbes and how long they have been around, I would put my money on the microbes.
And if we take a lead from the search for extraterrestrial intelligence, there is a notion that even if technological intelligence develops in a species, that species will wipe itself out relatively rapidly, or at least put itself back into an equivalent of the Stone Age. Sound familiar?
Graham Watson
London, UK
I say no. The dinosaurs had 165 million years and never came anywhere close to evolving what we would regard as intelligence. While it is a bit of jump from agriculture, I am designating intelligent life as the ability to use radio telescopes, as it will be the technology we use to contact other life forms.
The low chance of intelligence evolving is, I say, the reason for the Fermi paradox 鈥� the gap between life in the universe looking highly likely and the lack of evidence of advanced aliens. Intelligent life is so rare and fleeting the chances of two such species existing in the same time period within range of each other is vanishingly small.
David Smith
Alnwick, Northumberland, UK
I am surprised that answers to this question didn鈥檛 consider the slime mould as an example of single-celled intelligence. Diffuse or blobby, brainless and supremely democratic, it always gets its meal.
Perhaps it is time to update the biblical proverb: 鈥淕o to the ants, thou sluggard; consider her ways and be wise鈥�. How about: 鈥淕o to the slime mould, thou dullard, consider his/her/its/their ways!鈥�
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