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I'm guessing that Conway-Morris sees bipedal, big brained bodies as 'valleys' in evolutionary design space (A bunch of Dennett's 'good tricks', that work well together?).
I agree with other comments that the appearance of any space traveling alien species would be more a reflection of their technology than their biology.
I watched the 1951 version of The Day The Earth Stood Still last night. The story didn't even attempt to explain why the 'alien' (Klatoo) looked perfectly human. Infuriatingly, the script also had this wise space traveler saying something to the effect that 'only the almighty spirit has the power over life and death'.
Permalink Thu, 15 Jan 2009 01:31:00 UTC | #305152