It is this vastness you mention that causes me to believe that realistic space travel will be nearly impossible. Because realistic space travel is nearly impossible, I think the chance of us finding life elsewhere is practically zero. The technology hurdle is simply too great.
Physical laws around relativity, time and the speeds required to reach other planets, let alone those planets that are judged to be better suited at supporting life, greatly limit what's possible to explore. I'm a firm believer that the speed of light is the universal speed limit. Unless some new property of physics and nature is discovered, I don't know how one, we can get out and explore; or two, establish or act upon any sort of communications with another life form.
You pose some interesting questions, but there are some mighty big "ifs" as well. So many things would have to come together--evolved, intelligent life, the capability of space travel, and this life form's civilization overlapping ours in terms of their technology.
The ability to replicate intelligence is an interesting one, but I don't have the mental capacity to grasp how one would employ such a thing.
Well, see--when a man really likes a woman, they....
nevermind
of course, there’s another thought to process.
ever since man wanted to transport things... he has forever tried to improve that process, thereby making life easier. so when the guys dragging things around on sticks ran into the first guy using a wheel and axle... we’ve been looking to improve transport ever since. as long as the usage, and possibly replication, of the transport system is within the capabilities of the people to use it... it would continue to be used long after the village (or world) that created it, died off.
realizing that, and combining it with the current theory of stable worm holes bouncing around physics... we come to an interesting prospect.
you see, any society advanced enough to develop a stable worm hole would also be advanced enough to create a rudimentary AI. as such, it would be possible they would send out robotic drones (doesn’t have to be a full blown AI) to place worm hole receivers. this would quickly evolve into the drones building these portals, or gates, using materials found at the remote site. they would also most likely program the drone to replicate itself first, then the gate, dialing back to the home world to announce the location and conditions of the new gate, then speeding off in opposite directions to repeat the process.
forever ... into deep space.
if such a thing were possible in the universe... EVEN ONCE... then it MUST exist at this point in time -somewhere- out there. robots flying between star systems, scouting for suitable planets, replicating themselves and a gate, then flying on. spreading this interstellar network of roads across the heavens ... long after originating society dies out.
such a system would be so infinitely useful ... it would have to continue to exist, once created.
such a system could easily spread life throughout the universe.
the question is... is there such a gate nearby and have we already found it?