Cojana

imo, all life in the Universe are Humanly structured, the Human structure are the apex in design,our brain along with our appendages are structured to enable advances to proceed, I can't see any advanced intelligent life not to have the same appendages as ourselves, Hands are the perfect tool to manufacture and produce anything the brain can concieve, from the manufacture of the Hubbel Telescope to a hyperdermic needle. Hands are perfect for the Job, thus all living entities of intelligence must have Hands,...

Wounded King

Something analogous to hands perhaps, but hands themselves are not neccessarily the perfect manipulatory tools. A more flexible system of very fine tentacles might be more use perhaps.

Asha'man

Actually, the brain would be far better protected if it was within the core of the body, in the chest. Look at the design of any android, and you will see what I mean.

If you want to think about a superior body design for an intelligent species, consider Niven's puppeteers. The brain was carefully protected in the core of the body, two "arms" rose from the torso. Each arm had an eye and a mouth with very dexterous lips. Fine manipulation was well served by an eye in close proximity to the work.

If you want a more Earthly example, the octopus may be just as good for fine manipulation as the human, if not better. And the octopus is clearly very smart, so that body type can support moderate intelligence.

Ad Astra

I remember my sixth-grade science teacher pointing that out. He also posed the question, "Why is it that, in human, the places that air is taken in is so far away from the lungs? Wouldn't it make more sense to have our nose and mouth located on our chests?"

Rhaedas

Depends on what you define as progress. What if there's a species out there who are aquatic, similiar to our whales, who haven't progressed with technology, but have much more profound arts, philosophy, and awareness? Do we really know the whales here on earth don't exceed us in those manners? Maybe we just are too hand-oriented with our technology and aren't smart enough to understand them.

Cojana

First and formost, human beings are at the top of the evolutionary chain, an Octopus are confined to the ocean, robots are not yet feasable, what other manipulating device are you thinking that are better then hANDS.? just think of the intricate machimes that hands have produced,.. do you know that doctors have instruments to operate on the Cornea of an eye? made by hands,, and what about the giant earth movers, don't any of you watch the Discovery channel? human engeneering are just Marvelous, and amazing, you can't improve on Hands,thier perfect as are,...

Rhaedas

Actually there's no top on an evolutionary chain...that's just our egocentric view of us being better than everything else.

Technically bacteria are the "best" in evolution, having been around for so long without becoming extinct.

Fingers aren't the best thing anyway for fine manipulation...hence the reason we have tools that enhance that ability. If we had fine tentacles, or some other small manipulators, we'd have less of a need for fine working tools.

I wonder if two opposing thumbs would be better than one?

Doubting Didymus

There is no such thing. That's Aristotle you're thinking of. Great chain of being and all that. These days, biology is outdated when it's 50. The chain of life dates back two thousand years.

Point: No living species is more evolved than any other, as a matter of definition.

I somehow doubt that their delicate surgical instrumentation is the product of handicrafts.

When was the last time you saw someone making a giant earth mover with their hands?

Cojana

I am promoting our species as the pinacle of evolution, structurewise, of course our brains are too big for our heads, maybe when we grow brainwise to fill our heads, we'll understand the directive of the whale, I give them superior beings as are, our humanity are where I am rooting for. Whales are great, I wouldn't want to be one,...

Doubting Didymus

How come we all keep falling to bits all over the place, then?