[PatrickHenry]

You could be right. But it's a big galaxy, and we've got millions of years ahead of us to find out. I said "galaxy" and not "universe" because I doubt that we'll be getting any contacts from beyond the Milky Way. But some new (and very unexpected) developments could change that. At the moment, we're the only game in town. And that's not a bad thing. If we're alone, then it all belongs to us.

[Modernman]

At the moment, we're the only game in town. And that's not a bad thing. If we're alone, then it all belongs to us.

Though the idea of ET is cool, I think first contact anytime soon would be very perilous. We would be relying on the good nature of any such space-faring civilization. Any space-faring culture with less-than-benign intentions would have no problems extinguishing us.

Ideally, we need a couple of thousand years to develop to the point where we can meet other space-faring cultures on somewhat equal terms.