Imagining alien life

Anyone who has even wondered if life exists elsewhere in the universe has probably also wondered what that life might look like and act like. Zoologist Arik Kershenbaun has done more than wonder. He has written a book about it, The Zoologist's Guide to the Galaxy (2020).

Not having any real evidence of life on other planets Kershenbaum must confine himself to examining life on earth and then trying to determine what features of life must be universal. If most animals on Earth have two eyes and two ears, would most alien life have two eyes and two ears? What is likely and what isn't?

He reaches conclusions like this:

"So we can be confident that alien worlds will (much to the delight of Hollywood) be full of voracious predators."

And this:

"Some aspects of alien communication will always be alien to our comprehension — even if we can decode its meaning."

And this:

"Their screams will probably be very much like ours."

Where Kershenbaum really gets weird is when near the end of his book he begins speculating about whether any intelligent beings elsewhere in the galaxy might be considered human simply by reason of their intelligence. He even wonders if dolphins and chimpanzees should be called human because of their intelligence relative to that of other animal species.

He deflates his own speculation, however, when he refers to a Star Trek movie in which Captain Kirk suggests that both he and Spock are human. Spock replies, "I find that remark insulting." Any intelligent life, including dolphins, would probably be smart enough to find Kershenbaum's comments equally insulting.