I have to say I agree.

Why cannot some people say

"WE DON'T KNOW"

"Wed do not YET have the evidence to make claims either way".

I am all for debating possibilities we can often look at known physical and chemical process and attempt to work out if this or that thing may be feasible. I just get annoyed by people who tell us our galaxy is teaming with intelligent life "because it has to be" or "there is no life out there because life is such a difficult thing to form".

All we can say is there is an absence of evidence within our own galactic neighbourhood. When and only when we can build telescopes capable of imaging a fair range of planets around other stars in our "neck of the woods", allowing us to detect at least the signatures of biological activity, will we then be able to plug a few more numbers into the Drake Equation to turn our statistics from a sample of One to a sample of Fifty.

Even that will not produce a definitive answer but at least it will either increase our absence of evidence or tell us that maybe biology seems to evolve in 3 out 50 star systems. As to whether any of those biological planets has produced "tool using" "city builders" - well that will remain anyone's guess.

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Note 1. All requests for planetary demolition must now be submitted in quadruplicate on form UX-565/B4 and be counter-signed by the assistant administrative officer for interstellar traffic calming - department QG-7. Subject to approval by the chief planning officer and the infrastructure development coordination sub-committee.