MEETING OTHER INTELLIGENT SPECIES

Homo Sapiens & Neanderthal Species

 Ever since I watched a rather crude science fiction movie as a young boy, I’ve had a fascination with the possibility of us Homo sapiens meeting other intelligent beings in my lifetime.  Scientists have now determined that Homo sapiens have lived among at least seven other human species in the past thousands of years.  Yet, Homo sapiens alone have survived.  Nature has a way of “thinning the herd” through disease and starvation as we’ve observed when animals such as deer populations exceed the ability of their environment to support them.  There is a cycle of growth and decline on the Kansas prairies for coyotes and rabbits—the hunters and the hunted.

Two of these human species on our family tree were Denisovans and Neanderthals that had a long run before disappearing from the historical record along with the others.  Mankind has a consistent history of violence and genocide, especially in times of shortages of food and territory.  Homo sapiens seem to have that “survival of the fittest” history imbedded in our DNA and now we only have our own species left to continue the struggle.

The Neanderthals in particular coexisted with Homo sapiens for thousands of years.  They actually had bigger brains than Homo sapiens.  Neanderthals lived in smaller groups but Homo sapiens had developed larger and better social networks that allowed innovative thinking through knowledge-sharing.  A small group of Neanderthals was no match for a band of 150 Sapiens.  And there is apparent evidence that although they may even have interbred, a war of attrition facilitated by conflicts eventually sealed their fate and dropped them from the family tree along with the other species that had emerged.  The crushed Neanderthal skull above is but one example of the conflict.

It’s been noted that for the Neanderthals to have persevered for so long, they must have held their own through numerous territorial battles, suggesting a comparable level of intelligence.  Nick Longrich has concluded “Today we look up at the stars and wonder if we’re alone in the universe. In fantasy and science fiction, we wonder what it might be like to meet other intelligent species, like us, but not us. It’s profoundly sad to think that we once did, and now, because of it, they’re gone.”

There has always been a concern, especially since the development of atomic energy, that our technological advancements by a minute segment have outrun the social and moral development of the masses.  If we are being monitored by other more intelligent beings, that may explain why Watchers have been noticed over many of our nuclear entities.  It may explain such setbacks as the great flood and worldwide pandemics.  It may explain why they are hesitant to make contact.  

 

I recall a sketch that I encountered some time ago that illustrated two incredulous wide-eyed aliens standing at the base of a cross where a crucified man was dying.  The caption read “I know what we’re going to do.  We’re going to get the hell out of here.”