So, Aliens...

[spoonitnow]

Neil Degrasse Tyson accuses science fiction writers of a lack of imagination. I don't think so. I think they might be too creative. Regardless of how they evolved, the most basic commodities don't offer that much variation. If you build a house, it makes sense to make it a box. You probably have eyes, so you want windows. You'd have an anus, so you'd want a facility to dispose of your waste. If you are carbon based, you would want running water. You don't want a sore ass, so you'd have a couch.

So my theory is that in every intelligent alien race someone at some point walked through a door, sat on a couch and looked out a window.
Rebuttals?

Dolphins.

[oskar]

Dolphins.

Eolutionary dead end. No dexterity. If anything under water ever gets to the point of civilization it would have to be a squid. And one thing every squid wants is a roof over its head.

[spoonitnow]

Sharks have been around since before trees.