[ExI] Humans are a uniquely dangerous species

[Rafal Smigrodzki]

On Thu, Nov 21, 2019 at 11:58 AM BillK via extropy-chat <
extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org> wrote:

>
> 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.


### Our ancestors actually met these other intelligent species and, in
their great wisdom, killed them (and probably ate them, too), rather than
just wait to be killed (and eaten).

There is a rule in ecology that the presence of two or more species in the
same ecological niche is unstable and reliably ends with all but one of
them becoming extinct. Our niche is created by our having general, social
and technological intelligence, so long-term coexistence with other
intelligent species is by this rule impossible.

It's often advisable not to look too closely at how sausage and dominant
species are made.

Rafal
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