Quote:
Originally Posted by Fuzz
I think if life can spontaneously occur anywhere, it's likely some intelligence will exist. If you look at Earth, we know creatures like octopus, dolphins, even some birds show signs of intelligence.
More important, perhaps, is having the physical adaptations to take advantage of that intelligence, which in turn increases their intelligence. Being locked in a dolphin body with fins instead of hands greatly limits the ability to create tools, and being in water limits the ability to make use of things like fire. So there may be intelligent life out there, but it isn't building rockets and radios.
In my opinion, if we detect life anywhere else, no matter how basic, odds are there is also intelligent life out there. So back to a point I made awhile ago, we are either alone, or there are countless others. Currently we only have evidence of the former, so any other pronouncements are not supported by fact.
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Besides physical limits, there could also be sociological reasons for a species not exploring space. Maybe they focus on looking inward, as FlamesAddiction said, so they could live in an idyllic world with no reason to consider leaving. They're smart enough to travel to other planets, stars, or even galaxies, but they've created technology that gives them the safety and security they need without having to deal with the danger.