Reading the Silence

The Great Filter turns the galaxy's silence into a question with two answers:

• If the filter is behind us — the origin of life or the jump to complex cells — we may be rare but safe.
• If the filter is ahead — self-destruction after reaching our level — then every advanced civilization is doomed.

Which one is true decides whether humanity has a future among the stars, or is walking a path that every civilization before us has walked straight into extinction.