[shmageggy]

It’s possible but far from inevitable without intervention. It seems a confluence of unlikely (and still debated) factors combined to make tool-wielding + symbolic reasoning + language + culture etc an evolutionarily winning strategy. This is sometimes called the cognitive niche. But most species reach an evolutionary local maximum where increased intelligence offers no further survival gains; for example, sharks and crocodiles have been relatively unchanged for millions of years.

[7373737373]

I like this term "cognitive niche" a lot. The term "Evolutionary winning strategies" kind of implies an ordering, as if there was only one winner in the grand scheme of things. Humanity may seem like the apex predator on Earth but we live just where we live, in the circumstances we find ourselves in, that our genes have adapted to. In other circumstances, spaces or timescales, other lifeforms prevail. And on a cosmic scale, who knows...

[yreg]

I also imagine it's beneficial to

- have a body that can manipulate tools easily (octopus would fit this)

- have a long enough lifespan to be able to actually learn and discover

- live in an environment that supports primitive metalcasting, mining and agriculture to bootstrap your civilization