Excellent article. An unusual analysis of how we are where we are. I really enjoy Yuri Noval Harari and his books - he follows along with much of your thinking. Sapiens is an excellent book as well as 21 Lessons for the 21st Century.

All of these questions you raise intrigue me. I am now putting many of them into the framework of "what if". The current introduction of the whole UFO and UAP question into the national consciousness will bear on all of this.

I have one question for these visitors - because they surely are here, and probably from some off-world highly advanced technological civilizations. My question is "what's it all about Alfie?' I suspect they have as few answers as we have!

However on the other hand they may come from civilizations that have done a bit better that we are currently doing. Again who knows? And are the civilizations they come from really relatively speaking any better than ours? They are surely very different, but they've done something we don't seem to be mastering, surviving Fermi's great filter.

Perhaps they have the answers to your last question? I'm a science fiction writer so I indulge myself in thinking about what those answers might be. Just finishing up my book series now.

Anyway, thanks again for such a creative approach to a very big subject.