If we find extraterrestrial life, it becomes more likely that the filter is in front of us.
The more complex that life is, the more likely it becomes that the filter is in front of us.
I like the idea that at the very least, life is so rare in the universe that any other intelligent lifeforms
are probably so far away that we could never reach each other. I like to imagine that they're out there,
realizing that same thing, possibly at the same time, and the novelty of that notion is as close as we could
come to experiencing each other. I like the time line where the filter is behind us and we colonize our galaxy, empty of intelligent life everywhere we go.
Space is dangerous enough as it is without any of this sci-fi interstellar politics b.s. to worry about.
Think about Native Americans and the arrival of Europeans. We'd get steam rolled.
Even microscopic life of extraterrestrial origin could spell really bad news for any humans coming into contact with it.
Bottom line: it's never aliens.