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Have you ever pondered the possibility of an advanced civilization thriving on Earth before humans? With 99% of all species that have ever existed now extinct, it raises an intriguing question: Could humans be the sole intelligent species to have evolved in the vast expanse of Earth's history?
Life on Earth has spanned an astonishing 4.33 billion years. Humans, in comparison, have only been around for a couple of hundred thousand years. This longevity of life provides ample time for other highly intelligent species to have evolved, especially if we consider the relatively short duration of human existence.
The Solorian Hypothesis explores the possibility of detecting an industrial civilization in the geological record. It presents three scenarios where an ancient non-human species could have evolved, become advanced like humans, yet vanished without a trace. Let's delve into these scenarios and the implications they hold.
The authors of the paper acknowledge that traits conducive to intelligence, such as big brains, complex social structures, and opposable thumbs, are not unique to humans or even primates. Elephants, dolphins, orcas, crows, and octopuses exhibit human-like intelligence, and there's evidence that many extinct animals had complex social structures. However, the fraction of life that gets fossilized is minuscule, making it possible that previous intelligent species did not leave behind any fossil evidence.
Even if an advanced civilization existed tens or hundreds of millions of years ago, the chances of finding direct evidence of their existence via objects or fossilized examples are slim. The relentless forces of geological processes, such as erosion, would have destroyed or buried most artifacts. Human-made structures, even in modern times, are not expected to last more than a few thousand years.
If an ancient non-human civilization reached an industrial age, they would have left a massive footprint on Earth. However, tens or hundreds of millions of years later, any evidence might be lost or indistinguishable from natural events. For instance, ocean sediments only preserve evidence post-dating the Jurassic period due to the recycling of oceanic crust.
The paper does present a few exceptions. Plastics, with their uncertain longevity, might survive for millions of years if buried under sediment. Radioactive fallout, such as plutonium-244, with a half-life of 80 million years, could indicate a nuclear catastrophe. Finally, if an ancient species achieved technological advancement to send rockets and satellites into space, their remnants might still be detectable, as space is not subject to the same forces that erode and destroy evidence on Earth.
If there was an advanced civilization on Earth before humans, the evidence might be floating in space, waiting to be discovered. The Solorian Hypothesis challenges us to reconsider our place in the timeline of life on Earth. Are humans the only species to have evolved intelligence, built cities, and empires? Or might there be remnants of a past civilization, hidden in the layers of geological time, just waiting to be uncovered?
As we continue to explore and learn, the answers to these questions may reveal a richer, more complex history of life on our planet. What do you think? Could there have been another advanced civilization before humans? Let us know in the comments below.
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