The alien civilizations and the "Great Wall of China paradox".

The alien civilizations and the "Great Wall of China paradox".

If we are thinking about the technical civilizations and the civilization's ability to make technical products like spacecraft. We must understand that intelligence alone doesn't make any product. The species require the motivation and ability to think abstractly for creating technology. Technology requires the ability to make research and development work for making successful technical solutions. So what if the civilization is all alone in the universe? 

The Great Wall of China paradox means that the species is so isolated, that it would not even see other planets? What if that species will not see even astroids what means they don't need to afraid of cosmic catastrophes. What if on that hypothetical paradise planet will not happen any extinctions on that planet? Would that make it possible that the civilization has a lack of motivation for creating effective space technology?

What if it lives on the rocky Earth-like planet what is the only orbiter of its sun? There is a moon orbiting that planet, but the nearest planetary system would be hundreds of light-years away from that planet? What kind of research systems that civilization would have? The thing that motivated researchers on Earth was that whenever they looked by using their equipment.

They always found something new and interesting things. And that motivation made the human race make our instruments like telescopes, probes, and artificial intelligence. The motivation has risen from the images, that telescopes show to researchers. Things like the blue color of planet Neptune made researchers curious, and they send probes to find out, what was different in those worlds. 

The Drake equation

One of the most interesting things about the SETI program is Drake's equation: 

(Wikipedia, The Drake Equation)

The point fi = the fraction of planets with life that have proven go on to develop intelligent life (civilizations) has one paradox. The only known intelligent civilization is human civilization.  The Drake equation has brought the idea that the "firstborn civilization" destroys its competitors. 

But the fact is that the model where firstborn civilization will destroy other intelligent lifeform is the thing that would flat the innovation and need for technological advantage. In that form, the civilization would face only thoughts that are supporting it. And this thing is bad for innovation. The innovation requires a flexible and open way to think.

When we are thinking about the lone but intelligent civilizations we must remember what happened to China when it was isolated behind The Great Wall of China. The technical advantage in China ended. And Europeans met the feodal society, what weapons were from the medieval period. So the isolation of the civilization can cause that there is no motivation for creating technology. And the civilization with no competitors might be intelligent, but they don't do a thing with their brains. 

When the species create something that thing requires the model and ability to make the new things. So the species itself can be too perfect, that it would not seem necessary to make things like spacecraft. 

The form of intelligent species might determine can it even make a house. There are theoretical models that the species could be the neural network, with trillions of neurons. But the species would be alone on its home planet. Why it would make spacecraft? And could that neural structure even make spacecraft? What if there is not another species on the planet and the neural structure can create the sugars straight from minerals? That thing means that the species would have no ability to make the technical systems.