We have a sample of one modern human civilization, but there are some hints on how likely it was to happen.

Major types of hints are:

Time - if something happened extremely quickly; or extremely late, it suggests how likely it was.
Independent invention - something that was invented independently multiple times is likelier; something invented only once in spite of plenty of time, isolation, and prerequisites is less likely.

Data for:

Life seems to have developed extremely quickly after creation of Earth. [Origin of life]
Multicellularity seems to have evolved multiple times independently, at least in animals, fungi, and plants. [Evolution of multicellularity]
Similar process also happened multiple time on higher level - eusociality developed in aphids, thrips, mole rats, termites, and at least 11 times in Hymenoptera (ants, bees, and wasps). [Eusociality]
Life did not die out on Earth, or on any particular environment where it previously thrived, in spite of major changes in temperature, composition of atmosphere, and multiple large scale disasters. This suggests life is very resilient. Every time life is wiped out in some part of Earth, it is quickly recolonized.
Many different lineages of animals developed societies. [Social animal]
Many different lineages of animals developed communication. [Animal communication]
All transitions from Middle Paleolithic onwards happened relatively fast to extremely fast on evolutionary scale. [Paleolithic]
Invention of Mesolithic and Neolithic culture including agriculture, bow, boats, animal husbandry, pottery were all invented multiple times independently, in Afroeurasia, and Americas. [Stone Age]
Likewise many of latter inventions including metallurgy, writing, money, and state were developed multiple times independently.

Data against:

Universe is not filled with technical civilizations. Some (dubious due to zero empirical evidence) models suggest once such civilization develops anywhere in the galaxy, it is very likely to colonize the entire galaxy in relatively short period of time. As it didn't happen, it's a strong evidence that there are very few, perhaps no, advanced technical civilizations in our galaxy; or anywhere else in the universe if our galaxy is a good representative. [Fermi paradox]
Life can survive in a very wide range of circumstances, so there are plenty of places where we might expect to find li

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