I know that people go around and spout off reasons why they think the human race is doomed.
It occurred to me lately that I think I might have stumbled upon a scientific reason why that might actually be true.
I’ll keep it short.
Living cells eat living cells in order to get energy. So, the dominant living cell usually wins.
That goes all the way up through the species, where grass is eaten by rabbits, squirrels are eaten by foxes, and cows are eaten by humans.
You ever ask yourself why it has to be that way? I mean, it obviously is that way, but why?
Can you envision an intelligent species (made up of cells) that doesn’t need to consume other living cells for fuel? A species that can get all the energy it needs through absorbing minerals, elements, and nutrients?
What would eat us? The only life form that has any real power to harm us are pathogenic microbes (bacteria, viruses, fungi, protozoa) and parasites. Even those aren’t a ‘huge’ threat compared to the past and as long as we take precautions and use medicine.
We have weapons and intelligence, I don’t see some larger animal posing a threat to us.
Intelligence and tool making seems to trump size when it comes to biology.
Before we developed technology our biggest predator threats were probably reptiles and large cats, hence why we are afraid of them. But with an armored vehicle and a machine gun a field filled with large cats is harmless. Snakes can be poisoned.
Sure. Add an organ that transforms electricity into metabolic energy*, a stomach based on plants that can extract raw materials from minerals, and there you are. All they need is a wall socket and a bowl of dirt.
The human species is a disease, which is recognized as a threat by the unified system of life on earth. Antibodies are being developed as we speak. It cannot be any other way. Life evolved on earth precisely because this is true.
OMG, you can’t mean… wait… those are called ‘plants’.
Are you saying that such a species would be more efficient at gathering useful energy than us? Because I don’t think that’s correct. Part of the reason that animals are so damn successful is that they are able to steal the energy reserves of other organisms by eating them.
I don’t think we have much to worry about such a species, should it arise - getting our food by stealing it from other living cells is actually quite an effective, energetic strategy, compared to metabolising rocks.
Unless perhaps the OP is positing an organism that is powered by something like nuclear fusion, but even then - in the unlikely event that something like this arises, it would not be intelligent from the start, so we would just domesticate and farm it. End of problem.
Fusion powered extraterrestrials would probably have us over a barrel.