Don't know if I see evolution that way. But these days it seems there are almost as many interpretations of evolution as there are evolutionary biologists.

From where this onlooker sits, as life has spent more time on Earth it has slowly evolved toward greater and greater complexity and diversity. Earth is no longer just a world for bacteria. There are a lot more options now.

And intelligence is only one of those options. Some creatures fly, some burrow, some swim, and some use tools. There are several choices available to life. Intelligence is just one of them.

I don't know if this makes me anthropocentric or not, but I lean toward the notion that humans are leading the pack in the galaxy. We are either out in front among the most complex and technical species, or we are it. Period. The most intelligent and technical beings among all 200 billion plus stars.

Using the term 'advanced' may sound anthropocentric, but that's only because it is. But what's wrong with working from our own point of view, so long as we define our terms? By 'advanced,' I mean 'technological.' And it seems very possible (to me) that we are the most technologically sophisticated life operating in the galaxy right now.

That doesn't mean I disavow SETI, since I also believe that there are other species out there not so different from us. I also believe there is other plant-life out there not so different from ours, other aquatic life not so different from ours, etc. And it's likely there is also life quite different from ours.

I just happen to think humans are either tied for first place or well out in front, when it comes to technological civilization.

But these are only my opinions and I recognize that I could very well be completely wrong. As the pro-SETI people like to say, it's a very big universe out there. To me that just means there's an awful lot we don't know.