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HerbaciousTea t1_iyae90x wrote

Reply to comment by EricFromOuterSpace in Extragalactic SETI looks for life beyond the Milky Way. But where? In game theory one solution is a Schelling point — a single event that draws different group's attention. A binary neutron star merger could act as one, because observers across the universe will all be looking in the same direction. by EricFromOuterSpace

There are some interesting models based on the formation speeds of stars and planets and how long they remain habitable, as to how prevalent life might be at the different stages of the universe.

They suggest that the peak of habitable worlds that have existed long enough for life to exist and evolve to an intelligent stage (given certain assumptions about the difficulty of that) is actually some billion years in the future, and that humanity could be relatively early on the bellcurve of the distribution for life. Not extremely early, but well before the theorized majority of opportunities for intelligent life.

It involves assuming that earth life is typical, or at least no an extreme outlier in terms of requirements and timeline to evolve, because it's the sole datapoint we have, and assuming humanity is special or unique would be a form of anthropocentrism.

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