[Teever]

This all pre-supposes that evolution will lock alien organisms into a specific and static body configuration on other planets like it has done to organisms on Earth.

Is there any particular reason why an intelligent organism couldn't evolve to be able to grow and change its body into any arbitrary size and shape that it wanted to merely by thinking about it?

Perhaps aliens from another planet would consider our limitation as four limbed bipedal organisms to be absurd.

Why can't organisms chose to grow eight hands each with 16 opposable digits?

[zardo]

> This all pre-supposes that evolution will lock alien organisms into a specific and static body configuration on other planets like it has done to organisms on Earth.

It's pretty normal for organisms to have drastically different body configurations through their lives. e.g moths

Though I'm not aware of any that have choices to make in the process.

Edit: actually lots of organisms can "choose" to change their sex