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93 Our models of alien technological civilizations are almost certainly too narrow, argued biologist Jack Cohen and mathematician Ian Stewart; they can only come from predictions of our own future technology. Our imagi- nations cannot conceive of anything truly alien.”! Is Science a Universal? Many projections of how extraterrestrial civilizations will develop have been written by scientists extending trends far into the future. Yet, our own history casts doubt on straight-line projections. A growing scientific enterprise and continuous technological develop- ment may not be inevitable. Even when civilizations possess the techni- cal skill, social or psychological forces may deter them from advancing further, though that advance may seem obvious to outsiders and successors.” Human interest in science may be rare, conceivably unique. Even if the concept of scientific inquiry exists in some extraterrestrial societies, its implementation may be limited or episodic. Science gives us a powerful lever on fate. That lever that may not be equally available to all civilizations. Until we have confirmable evidence, attaching a number to the fraction of intelligent cultures that use technologies we can detect—or that does our kind of science—rests on shaky analogies. Intelligence—even intelli- gence with many forms of technology—could be abundant in the universe without our being able to find it. Bottom Line, Technological Civilizations: Unresolved. This too could change overnight. Technology and Science