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Intelligence's likelihood and evolutionary time frame

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 January 2011

Marc Bogonovich
Marc Bogonovich
Affiliation:
Indiana University, 1001 East Third Street, Jordan Hall room 142, Bloomington, IN 47405, USA e-mail: mbogonov@indiana.edu
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Abstract

This paper outlines hypotheses relevant to the evolution of intelligent life and encephalization in the Phanerozoic. If general principles are inferable from patterns of Earth life, implications could be drawn for astrobiology. Many of the outlined hypotheses, relevant data, and associated evolutionary and ecological theory are not frequently cited in astrobiological journals. Thus opportunity exists to evaluate reviewed hypotheses with an astrobiological perspective. A quantitative method is presented for testing one of the reviewed hypotheses (hypothesis i; the diffusion hypothesis). Questions are presented throughout, which illustrate that the question of intelligent life's likelihood can be expressed as multiple, broadly ranging, more tractable questions.

Keywords

complex lifeDrake equationencephalizationevolutionintelligencemulticellular lifePhanerozoic
Type
Research Article
Information
International Journal of Astrobiology , Volume 10 , Issue 2 , April 2011 , pp. 113 - 122
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2011

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