@gatmac5
It could be that Life is harder than we think, and Earth is first to make a somewhat intelligent species.
But there are so very many other plants with a few billions of year headstart.
https://www.space.com/25325-fermi-paradox.html
Fermi Paradox: Where Are the Aliens?

Is anybody out there?

Space.com
@VistoTutti @gatmac5 Possibly Earth is not the first, but the chances of evolving intelligent life is likely incredibly small. The universe is a killing machine, Earth is one of the few lucky planets that survived 4.7B years without passing in front of a Gamma-Ray Burst beam, sterilizing all of its life.
@VistoTutti @gatmac5 That, and the Christmas tree hypothesis: the universe is vast, both in space and time, intelligent life may have happened multiple times, but the chances of two intelligent civilizations emerging close enough in space and time to find each other before they are annihilated are very small.