But still - if the Galaxy was full of sentient, technological civilizations, wouldn't SETI be picking up their crappy infomercials - or their bad pop music?
It took Earth 4 billion years (give or take an eon) to evolve a self-aware, tool-using ape capable of sending modulated electromagnetic signals for communication purposes.
Who is to say that we Humans aren't actually an elder race - the first real people to arise in our galaxy?
Discuss...