[RichardCA]

It's easy to make the assumption that Earth is not the only planet to evolve a species that's capable of high technology, to the extent they can re-work the surface of the planet in complex ways that would be a clear marker of intelligence.

But it does now follow, and it is by no means certain that such life would be sentient in any way recognizable to us, or us to them.

You're doing what everyone else is doing - conflating a link between intelligence and sentience that's just a projection of your human bias.

[RichardCA]

Ok, well since I got downvoted I may as well offer this: If you're looking for something to add to your reading list I strongly recommend Solaris by Stanislaw Lem. The thing that makes that book brilliant is how effectively it captures the futility of any attempt to understand non-human sentience.

The two movies don't do justice to that theme, or at best they do it only in the most glancing of ways before rushing back to a standard deus-ex-machina in the end. In each case, the film makers seem to have lost their nerve, as if the idea of presenting that enigma to the audience in a more direct and accessible way is just too hard of a problem.

But for me personally, it's on the short list of science fiction works that still stick with me in a personal way, and that I like to return to every few years. And, yes, it is an arrogant viewpoint to say that all we ever do as humans is look for mirrors of ourselves. But I think Lem got at a pretty deep truth about the human condition when he did that.

[dcow]

Thanks for the recommendation!