The other thing is that I’m not sure the “observation selection effect” does much to make this less “wild”: anthropically, it seems much more likely that we’d be in a later-in-time, higher-population civilization than an early-in-time, low-population one.
That’s a good point: my hypothesis doesn’t help to make reality seem any less wild.
That’s a good point: my hypothesis doesn’t help to make reality seem any less wild.