There is an enduring tradition that the first Europeans in the Americas and Hawai’i were perceived as gods, a phenomenon known as “apotheosis” or “the act of turning men into gods.” The tradition is especially strong in relation to two historical figures: the Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortés in Mexico and the British navigator Captain James Cook in Hawai’i. It is, however, by no means confined to these two figures. Furthermore, considerable explanatory power is attributed to this divine identification: indigenous peoples apparently submitted before the demonstration of godly power. In the heyday of European imperialism – the nineteenth century and early twentieth century – this tradition was accepted uncritically by western historians. In the wake of decolonization, from the 1950s and 1960s, increasing interest in non-European perspectives on these early encounters caused historians to call this interpretation into question. Three key issues emerge: what evidence is there that such an apotheosis took place? If it did not, how did the tradition arise? And how did native peoples in fact perceive Europeans?

Here, I use the phrase ‘intelligent universe’ to refer to all intelligent entities everywhere. Whether the set of all such entities overlaps with, or is a subset of, the biological universe depends on whether we include artificial intelligence in it. I focus here on biological intelligence. On Earth, evolution to high intelligence has proceeded via a series of milestones. These include: multicellularity, bilaterality, brain, and dexterity. To what extent does evolution towards high intelligence elsewhere proceed via the same milestones? I suggest that similar steps would often be found to characterize evolution on other inhabited planets, providing it can continue for long enough. I put forward the hypothesis that there are at least a trillion radio-level intelligences in the observable universe right now. Then I consider the possible implications of ‘first contact’ between humans and one of them. Such contact could pose a threat for human survival. Finally, I look at home-grown threats, including the fixed mind-sets that underlie religious fundamentalism and science denial. I end by urging a robust defence of both science and humanity against such unthinking views.