But without hands, those shrimp people aren’t going to be able to do much in the way of tool use…
Maybe they have specialized claws that they use to fashion tools out of giant coal trees that grow out the planet’s core. Maybe they have a form so foriegn we couldn’t possibly imagine it. My point is, convergent evolution makes a lot of sense based on our understanding of how life evolves, but in terms of systems that produce life, we have a sample size of one. If we’re wrong about some of the fundamental requirements of life l(ike carbon, water, light), and there are a plethora of systems that produce life, all bets are off.
My point was less about producing life, I agree there are probably countless ways life could develop that would be strange or unimaginable. I’m talking more about convergent evolution for the sorts of species which would interact regularly with the Federation.
Maybe they have specialized claws that they use to fashion tools out of giant coal trees that grow out the planet’s core. Maybe they have a form so foriegn we couldn’t possibly imagine it. My point is, convergent evolution makes a lot of sense based on our understanding of how life evolves, but in terms of systems that produce life, we have a sample size of one. If we’re wrong about some of the fundamental requirements of life l(ike carbon, water, light), and there are a plethora of systems that produce life, all bets are off.
My point was less about producing life, I agree there are probably countless ways life could develop that would be strange or unimaginable. I’m talking more about convergent evolution for the sorts of species which would interact regularly with the Federation.