Thread 16842514

What do you think is the hardest step to intelligent life? (assuming the previous step was complete for 2 and 3)
1. Abiogenesis
2. Complex multicellular life
3. Intelligent life and civilization

>>16842514 (OP)
definitely step 3

>>16842531
Time wise it took much longer to go from single cells to multicellular animals, than it did from those first animals to humans. However maybe we just got lucky, a 1 in a million. Intelligence doesn't seem inevitable at all.

>>16842514 (OP)
>cell consumes a primitive mitochondria like bacterium but magically doesnt digest it
>cell becomes FWB with bacteria
>other cells notice this and decide its a cool idea and does it too, becomes hot new trend
>????
>the bacterium is now a fully integrated organelle that simple grows alongside the cell without needing magic consumption

MAKE IT MAKE SENSE

I feel like human intelligence is a bit overrated, having opposable thumbs and access to fire and technology is whats actually rare. we have other species like orcas and dolphins who in all likelihood are much closer to human intelligence than we are and communicate in complex layered language specific to their own pods, they just dont have hands and live in the ocean so making a society is impossible.

>>16842557
>who in all likelihood are much closer to human intelligence than we are
?????????

>>16842576
nigga is a chimpanzee

>>16842514 (OP)
Once we got to primates I feel like humans were inevitable barring any cosmic catastrophe. Dinosaurs seemed to dominate for an incredible amount of time. Without a soft reset, mammals would have never taken over.

Inventing the universe. Hands down. It's also the hardest part of making apple pie.

>>16842576
*closer to human intelligence than we think

>>16842557
Yeah it's probably the creating fire intentionally that's the rarest. Abiogenesis and things like that might be rare but probably happen inevitably under the right conditions with enough time, but creating fires requires a conscious being to want to create a fire and then use it to cook meat to make their brain bigger and continue doing that for millions of years without going extinct

>>16842514 (OP)
currently it seems abiogenesis is the hard step due to zero evidence to date that life exists elsewhere
i really hope we find some microbes on europa so we can presume that it's something farther along that makes us rare
that being said, it's astonishing how quickly life emerged in earth's history, and how incredibly tenacious it is

>>16842619
not only that but you need a very, very specific type of atmosphere for fire to even be possible and useful. too little oxygen and you cant start a fire, too much oxygen and starting one wipes out your ecosystem. and without fire, none of our technological progress is even remotely possible.

>>16842621
would be a much better prospect for humanity if we didnt find life in the solar system. if the great filter is ahead of us, we're fucked.

>>16842625
our oxygen came from photosynthesis
it was fortunate that photosynthesis didn't poison ancient life

>>16842627
with 8 billy insane monkes on this planet, we are completely fucked no matter what
best case scenario is some virus cooks 99% of fertalized eggs, a la Galapagos by Kurt Vonnegut
worst case scenario is we make the planet uninhabitable for higher life forms including ourselves and end up like mad max

>>16842514 (OP)
a lot of what makes humans successful are things originally evolved for living in an arboreal environment.
dexterous arms with a good range of movement and vision with good depth and colour perception compared to most mammals for example.
the evolution of primates was only feasible due to the former evolution of flowering plants that created a food source in the trees outside of insects in the form of fruit.
and flowering plants didn't start to become the dominant tree species till after the asteroid that wiped out the dinosaurs impacted the Earth.
a big filter could just be creating organisms with the dexterity to produce civilisation.

>>16842635
>with the dexterity to produce civilisation
i was thinking about posting this earlier, because humans have an array of unreal adaptations
standing up on two legs freed our hands to the point where we can finely manipulate our environment
language came out of the need to communicate over distances in the trees
we're omnivorous
etc. etc.

also, sweating is the best thermoregulation adaptation in the animal kingdom
the downsides? lack of hair makes us more vulnerable to attack and the elements, and poor sense of smell. oh well

The humanoid body plan never evolved before in the entire history of the planet. I wonder if it takes a decent size brain to be able to balance like we do. Although I've heard the brain really began to grow exponentially after we were walking upright

>>16842547

>intracellular parasite turned symbiot

Made it make sense. Next?