Could we be one of the OLDEST civilizations in the galaxy?

On Jan 25, 2007, at 02:27 UTC, ANTIcarrot wrote:

> The odds of one species remaining unchanged for 100 million years:
> vanishingly small

True. But... so?

> The odds of a technologically advanced species capable of engineering
> itself remaining unchanged for 1000 years: even smaller

Again, so? I didn't even mention species...

> Once you have TWO or more closely related species who have near
> identical technology because they have a common ancestor, all the
> rules change.

In any significant way? I don't see how. You still have a
civilization (no matter how many species you want to count in it)
colonizing the whole galaxy before the #2 civilization (the one
evolving on a completely different planet) gets off the ground, right?

Best,
- Joe

Joe Strout -- joe@...