Is Intelligent Arrived Quite Late on Earth?

There could be messages from aliens washing over us right now, but maybe in a totally different way than what we're expecting. But that's exactly what we want to learn when we talk to aliens. We want to learn how they might think differently. And there are also, of course, questions about the nature of intelligence. You know, would we even recognize intelligent life if it sent us a message, or if it flew by?