Don't assume that a species is intelligent because it produces intelligent individuals.
Jack McDevittCertain types of decisions can be safely ignored. Some issues will go away with the passage of time, others will be so slow developing that the decision-makers will depart before the results of their neglect becomes manifest. Which brings us to the environment.
Jack McDevittUniversal deities ... never seem to smile. Not in any culture. What's the point of having omnipotence if you don't enjoy it?
Jack McDevittPut the money into schools. Rational ones that train young minds to think, to demand that persons in authority show the evidence for the ideas they push. Do that, and we won't need to provide a world for the Sacred Brethren who, given the opportunity, would run everyone else off the planet.
Jack McDevitt