Humanity has studied the possibility of the existence of alien civilizations across the universe. However, what if we traveled outer space only to encounter other humans?
Simon Conway Morris, an evolutionary paleobiologist from the Department of Earth Science at the University of Cambridge, has suggested that this could be a very likely scenario.
Morris said during an interview with BBC’s Science Focus magazine that researchers can “say with reasonable confidence” that other planets have experienced the same human-like evolution process that Earth underwent throughout history.
The astrobiologist’s claims are based on the theory of convergent evolution, which indicates that, according to Science Focus, “random effects eventually average out so that evolution converges, tending to produce similar organisms in any given environment.”
To summarize, the convergent evolution theory says that evolution is bound to happen in several other locations. And, as a law of nature, it can similarly operate on distinct planets as it does in ours. This way, all the extraterrestrial civilizations we’re used to seeing on Sci-Fi TV shows, and movies could actually exist somewhere in outer space.
More people from Cambridge believe in the same theory as Morris. Arik Kershenbaum, a zoologist at the same institution, wrote a book based on this concept.
According to Kershenbaum, alien civilizations would have “evolved from a pre-technological species.” While it’s fun to think of extraterrestrial races as creatures with advanced technology and knowledge with different and fancier interests than ours, Kershenbaum says that these civilizations must have started somewhere instead of appearing as wise beings out of the blue.
Kershenbaum believes that it’s more convincing to imagine other worlds where creatures similar to humans are “singing and dancing and telling stories” as we do here on Earth.
So, if the laws of nature and evolution truly work as Darwinists, as Kershenbaum and Morris believe, it would be easier for us to relate to and communicate with alien civilizations. However, it also makes us more prone to have conflicts with them.
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