"Earth exceptionalism" is still the best answer to the Fermi Paradox.
Maybe we're the first/only civilization in the galaxy. If so, then the question is, why? Maybe we're just the first and there will soon be millions of other civilizations.
But most likely, Earth is a fluke. Either something in its environment made it conducive to civilization or some random (and rare) evolutionary path led to civilization.
My uneducated guess is that microbial life is relatively common, but multi-cellular life is very rare and technological life is unique (at least in our galaxy).
Maybe we're the first/only civilization in the galaxy. If so, then the question is, why? Maybe we're just the first and there will soon be millions of other civilizations.
But most likely, Earth is a fluke. Either something in its environment made it conducive to civilization or some random (and rare) evolutionary path led to civilization.
My uneducated guess is that microbial life is relatively common, but multi-cellular life is very rare and technological life is unique (at least in our galaxy).