Unfortunate Evolutionary Accidents

Yet perhaps the most important result of such contacts [with extraterrestrials] might be the simple proof that other intelligent races do exist.  Even if our cosmic conversations never rise above the “Me Tarzan – You Jane” level, we would no longer feel so alone in an apparently hostile universe.  And, above all, knowledge that other beings had safely passed their nuclear crisis would give us renewed hope for our own future.  It would help to dispel present nagging doubts about the survival value of intelligence.  We have, as yet, no definite proof that too much brain, like too much armor, is not one of those unfortunate evolutionary accidents that lead to the annihilation of its possessors.
—    Arthur C. Clark
From his book:  “Report On Planet Three And Other Speculations“
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