Just a Thought

What if there is no intelligent life in the universe? I mean, no life more intelligent than us. What if the conditions for intelligent life to evolve are so freakish and rare – you have to have the right atmosphere, and a larger planet further from your sun than yours to shield from meteor strikes, but just one huge meteor strike to hit and wipe out the giant yet unintelligent creatures, and maybe a wide variety of climates so that beings will be forced to adapt, and so on and so forth.
On the one hand it would be kind of a bummer because I’ve always looked forward to the Star Trek future, with lots of alien species to communicate with and learn from. On the other hand, it would mean the entire universe is ours to explore.
On yet a third hand, it imposes on us a frightening responsibility. If we don’t survive as a species, it may well become as if there never were intelligent life in the universe. All history of it will be gone with our passing. Think about that.