I used to think like you, then I learned that our star-type is pretty rare. The only reason we are the dominant species, is because an Everest size meteor struck the Earth circa 65 million years ago, which set off a cascade of events leading to us.

In fact the only reason we have seasons, is thought to be because of that meteor, if those things hadn't happened, the Earth would have had a different set of naturally selective pressures.

Imagine an intelligent species from a water world, or on a rocky planet circling a red dwarf star (the most common type in the universe). As far as making tools all you need are opposing thumbs and a brain, like crabs, parrots, or any number of creatures.

Damn! I could think and talk about this for hours 😊.

One theory I don't think I mentioned in the video, is professor Brian Cox's. He said he had always thought a great way for an alien civilisation to contact us, would be to leave easily detectable balloons in the atmosphere, as they passed by. Just a kind of "hi, you're not alone" kind of message...

Cg