retsot OP t1_iufw91v wrote on October 31, 2022 at 12:35 AM

Reply to comment by Nezeltha in ELI5 Are there any practical alternative fuel sources that alien civilizations might have if they weren't lucky enough to have oil and trees? by retsot

That makes more sense to me. If fossil fuels or some sort of low level fuel source is almost a requirement when it comes to successful ecosystems as we know it, that makes me feel better about it. I have been thinking a lot about some poor intelligent species stuck in a pre caveman era forever because they simply don't have the necessary resources to advance.

Nezeltha t1_iugc14c wrote on October 31, 2022 at 2:38 AM

There are situations that would seem to make that happen. Evolving underwater, for example. Without fire, it's really hard to imagine a species developing beyond the basic tool use we see in dolphins. Fortunately, it's not likely a species would develop much more than dolphin-level intelligence without fire, either. Brains, especially the complex, wrinkly brains we humans have, are really expensive to build and maintain. That's why so many species invest in claws and teeth instead. Dentin and keratin are pretty cheap. But if you use your brain to figure out how to get more nutrients (especially fats and proteins) from your food by cooking it, then evolution selects for that brain. That's part of how our brains evolved. It's hard to see how a species could leverage high brainpower to increase nutrition from food to that point without fire. Maybe they could do it by fermenting meat, but that would require other advancements that I just don't think are likely.

retsot OP t1_iugcnrq wrote on October 31, 2022 at 2:43 AM

That's something I actually forgot to consider. Being able to cook food and using tools to break bones and to cook and eat marrow and stuff helped advance us significantly. I've often wondered what species, if any, would become the next super intelligent earthican and it is interesting to think of it soley in terms of ease of nutritional resources. That being said, there aren't a whole lot of candidates. Thanks for the brain food friendo :)