the ideas of "civilization " and "advanced" exist in human perception.
there could be all sorts of things "out there" or even "here" on earth that are beyond human perception and/or whose own perceptions do not register the existence of humans.
take one example: some scientists studying dogs have concluded that dogs have a sense of smell "at least a trillion times" as strong as humans. not a hundred, not a thousand, but a trillion. i don't know what that indicates to you, but to me it indicates that the dog is living in a different universe than the human.
or insects - ants or bees or termites or whatever. to human perceptions as registered in human language they are "mindless" and only "act on instinct" but what does that mean, except to humans?
"aliens" in science fiction are always basically human - human enough for the humans to comprehend and communicate with at least - and to compete with on basically even terms (or else there would be no suspenseful science-fiction story). and if they are not basically human they can only be perceived as "dumb" or "blind".
the science fiction idea of the "advanced" alien civilization is usually based on the vague ideas humans have of a utopia where all conflict has been abolished and where everybody lives more or less "forever" (another human concept) but these utopias remain very vague and unfocussed even in the human mind. (what is not so vague or unfocussed is the idea of the evil ones who stand in the way of the utopia and must be heroically fought and resisted).
even if the aliens are out there and do not contact humans , it might be not because they are horrified by the "stupidity" and "savagery" of the humans (concepts which might mean nothing to them) or because the humans still tolerate the likes of donald trump or the koch brothers but because the humans are of absolutely no interest to them and do not even register on their advanced consciousness.
finally, the idea of the advanced aliens contacting humans assumes that the advanced ones will have discovered interstellar travel or communication, which humans themselves have failed to master only because they are not "advanced" enough, rather than that it might be an impossibility in a human-perceived universe.
