Humans should count ourselves lucky that we have yet to encounter a more powerful species.
The various sophistries we use to justify how we treat other animals and each other... we embody everything we accuse others of but worse.
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Every time I see someone wish for contact with aliens, I silently wonder if they're completely insane.
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Any sane aliens would quarantine the hell out of our planet, solar system or star cluster.
Non-sane aliens... well, observe nature. You tell me.
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You'll note that this completely omits out of left field, cosmic horror-esque dread sentiences or beings so different as to be unfathomable.
But considering how well-adjusted we are to dealing with *minor* cultural differences, you can see how that would go for us...
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Thinking we are alone in the universe isn't some kind of rationally justifiable position; it's comforting denial.
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alone as in
- no self-aware beings exist anywhere
- no self-aware beings exist nearby (within x light-years)
?
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Either, both. You'd be surprised (maybe) at how many people believe the stronger statement, but to me even the weaker seems incredibly arrogant.
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(Not to say astronomers and astrophysicists can't make claims on available data - it's the veracity and completeness of such data I doubt.)
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I mean how little of what we know about the universe outside the range of our probes can be observationally verified.
The science is there, but to say the tools are mature...
We're at nautical science before the diving bell.