|
I don't think an alien race would evolve with some kind of superpower. If you don't need to hunt for food and fight for survival, then you have no need for a brain. Like wuf said, you could conceive a life form that travels on solar rays and feasts on its own sense of self satisfaction, but it wouldn't have to be smarter than a sponge. As we can see on our own planet, evolution doesn't aim for perfection, it does the bare minimum to survive. Much like myself.
You could assume that traits that have evolved many times independently on this planet would also be beneficial on other earth like planets, like stereoscopic vision, wings, flippers. Anything intelligent is most likely squishy and agile. The more armor you have naturally the less pressure you have to be smart. All of that makes me think that a life form that becomes self aware would be very much like us in a lot of ways. Of course, on the billions of planets that are out there, one might find a completely different route, but the vast majority, I believe, would be surprisingly similar to us.
|