The standard that determines everything: energy!
To determine who is smarter between aliens and people on earth, it depends on who has a higher level of civilization.
The so-called civilization is the sum of all science, culture and wealth created by an intelligent life. The maintenance and development of any civilization requires energy, and with the improvement of civilization level, the demand for energy is also increasing. Therefore, the most appropriate comprehensive index to measure the development level of a civilization system is the demand for energy and control ability.
In 1965, Soviet astrophysicist Kardashev proposed three levels of civilization development according to the ability of intelligent life to use energy: type I civilization, type II civilization and type III civilization.
According to Kardashev's standard, type I civilization can make full use of planetary resources. Type I civilization can change the climate, develop the ocean, control earthquakes, and reasonably use and control all the resources and energy on the planet. This civilization can harness the energy generated by nuclear fusion, use huge energy for alien communication, and travel freely between planets. This requires all members of the planet to cooperate efficiently, which means that there will be no more war and hostility among civilized members, and there may be no more countries.
Today, human beings on earth have been able to send spacecraft to other planets in the solar system, make electronic computers, transmit and receive radios, and build nuclear power plants to generate electricity. We have also learned about nuclear fusion, which can make powerful hydrogen bombs. However, we cannot control the energy of nuclear fusion, nor can we arbitrarily control the climate and environment on our earth. Therefore, according to the suggestion of American scientist Carl Sagan, our civilization is not a type I civilization, but a type 0.7 civilization at most.
If our civilization continues to develop, it is possible to develop into type II civilization. Type II civilization can use all the energy of its stars (such as the sun), so its energy intensity is 10 billion (1010) times that of type I civilization. The stars used by such a civilization cannot be seen with the naked eye, because all visible light is used by this civilization. Only in the infrared band can we see the energy released by this civilization.
Type III civilization can use all the energy of its galaxy at will. Its driving energy intensity is 100 billion (1011) times stronger than that of type II civilization. They can reach any corner of the galaxy at will and use the resources on each star. If such civilizations exist in the Milky way, they can freely use the energy of our sun and easily decide the life and death of the earth. The degree of development of such a civilization is really many times higher than that of human civilization on our earth!
At present, people on earth have not been able to visit another star over a distance of several light-years. Therefore, there are only two possible ways for us to contact Aliens: either we are discovered by aliens from afar; Or we can contact aliens by radio. If it is the former, then the level of our alien civilization must be higher than ours. Because they can travel between stars, but we can't. If it is the latter, then the technology level of the aliens who contact us will not be worse than that of our earth people. So it is certain that if we can meet aliens at present, aliens will never be less intelligent than people on earth. Most likely, they are smarter than us.
Perhaps when mankind develops the technology of interstellar travel and can investigate another star, we can also find that the degree of civilization lags behind our intelligent life. Maybe they are still in the stone age or bronze age. However, it requires human beings to cherish our earth and not be destroyed by nuclear war or climate change before the development of Star Trek technology.