How would an intelligent civilization evolve in the floor of a deep ocean world?

Defining what is a super intelligent civilization: An industrial civilization that invest on scientific progress and that builds and manipulates computers, robots and nano-machines, has efficient automatized communications and understand and manipulates physics and chemistry to a level that they can efficiently create and study natural and novel materials and improve their own biology, ecology and environment.

In a deep ocean planet with no solid surface outside water, if an intelligent industrial civilization evolves living on the deep ocean floor, at which tech stage they would start to study astronomy or try space exploration? How would they understand the universe before discovering the atmosphere? And after discovering atmosphere? And after discovering outer space?

Further if the planet has an additional global ice cover with some kilometers in thickness separating the ocean from the atmosphere, how do this change the evolution of the civilization on the planet?

And, if the planet has a thick and opaque atmosphere, how could this still further complicate the scenarios with and without the global ice cover?

Could any of those possibilities result in a super intelligent civilization that thinks that all the universe corresponds to their own planet or they would always figure out that this is not the case before becoming a super intelligent? Or could this simply prevent them from becoming super intelligent to start with? If they become super intelligent, how hard would be for they to figure out that the universe is not limited to their own planet (if ever possible)?

I am asking this question thinking specifically about what would happen if in the deep oceans floor of Europa or some other icy moon in the Solar System (though they do not possesses thick atmospheres), an intelligent tech civilization was living without knowing the existence of Earth. But this could also be applied to some extra-solar planets or moons.

^{[This is my first question in this community, so if there is any problems in its format, please provide me feedback and let me edit it before voting to close this question]}

posted over 9 years ago

Victor Stafusa‭

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