wrong number

Someone called me. It was a wrong number. Why do people sometimes call wrong numbers? Do they know the correct number but simply punch an incorrect digit? Do they begin with an incorrectly copied number and then punch each digit correctly? Do people ever a call wrong number on purpose? One can imagine a lonely person, a rejected and despised soul, purposely dialing up a stranger simply to hear another human voice. Most times the person at the other end will politely inform the caller of her mistake. If called again, many will probably respond just as politely, possibly even laughing a bit, partly at the coincidence of two consecutive wrong calls, partly at the ineptitude of the caller (can’t you read numbers correctly?). The third time is when irritation creeps into the voice.
This planet we live on may be a wrong number. In the midst of a hostile universe, there exists a blue dot, an oasis in a dark and scary and lifeless galactic desert (though there is a certain beauty in deserts). On this dot there exist minds capable of discovering mathematical theorems, designing cathedrals and space shuttles, writing poetry and philosophy. These minds are also capable of the greatest of evils: torture, abuse, genocide. Why should such beings as us exist when there is scant, if any, evidence of any similar such beings elswhere in the cosmos? Scientists and non-scientists alike hold out hope that non-terrestrial life exists, but so far the search for extraterrestrial intelligence has come up short. In fact, given the factors required for intelligent life to develop, the probability of intelligent life existing elsewhere than earth is very low (a book to read is Rare Earth by Ward and Brownlee).
Perhaps we aren’t a wrong number. We may in fact be the one number which is dialed correctly. If indeed our planet is the only one that contains life, then we are the most fortunate of beings. We hold a privileged place in the universe. We can observe the cosmos and appreciate the beauty and wonder of it all. Only intelligent, sentient beings can do this. But can intelligence come from non-intelligence? It seems more reasonable to believe that we’re the product of an intelligence far greater than we can possibly comprehend.