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Laurent Quinn Proper · 04-26-2010, 05:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CAPTAIN CAVEMAN

so what, you think it's more likely that they'd be looking at earth with a giant telescope and intergalactic telephone and planning a big trip to show up and be friends? truth be told i know fuck all really about current or potential space travel but i suppose it does make more sense to have a specific destination. regardless, this does not mean that they will be friendly. even if they have a station on the moon, say, how are they to know that there are humans on earth? who knows specifically what technology they may or may not have. it is impossible to tell how they will react to us based on what their level of technological advancement is...

last time i checked hitler fell because his empire was being attacked and destroyed (see: violence) by people that had a problem with being invaded/mass exterminations/etc etc nazi crimes ad nausea... there are countless empires and regimes that can attribute their success to violence. you will discount them as failures because they failed eventually - but so too does everything else. what do you expect? everything comes to an end eventually and it is perhaps not simply because they employed violence that they failed.

you seem to think morality and intelligence are tied inherently and measured as if there is one end to the spectrum - say "violent, dumb caveman" and another, "kind, rational scientist." morality and intelligence are not so simple. there is no reason to believe the intelligent can not be violent. i don't know where you're getting this from. violence is not intrinsically an exhibition of the weak or the strong, there are many cases in which both use it.

so because some soldiers suffer PTSD in battle to ensure the safety of their country, that proves violence is good for no one...? you're living in a fantasy world if you think that killing is never beneficial to anyone. the best way to ensure your existence is completely situational. if you have a gun and there's an alien with a sharp object coming at you you'd better shut your brain up and get violent.

You obviously don't have the slightest clue about how one would go about communicating with distant civilizations. We transmit signals every single day, that could potentially be picked up and decoded by "aliens". Our favorite TV shows have been continuously traveling through space since the very first air date. This amongst other things (I.E., radio signals, cellular towers) is what another civilization would be looking for. A distant signal that they would focus in on, "decode" and then reply with a message of their own. We even have satellites searching the skies for alien signals, twenty-four seven.
True that everything comes to an end but violence would almost certainly always fall before the power of the mind. You can enforce your will, all you want, but if you can't effectively think of rational solutions to your problems your existence is on a much shorter leash. The resources needed to carry on with an ongoing battle would be far too great for any one civilization to constantly have to replenish. Again, the most important and influential people in our world's history have always been thinkers and not brutish neanderthals whom believe violence is the only way to ensure security.
The intelligent have absolutely no need for violence. If they want something, they shall take in other more resourceful ways. Why waste our natural resources manufacturing weapons of mass destruction when we can find other logical solutions to the problems? It's like saying, "I want to become leader of the United States." What would be more practical? Somehow managing to form a guerrilla group and attacking the United States or studying, paying my dues and then eventually becoming President of the United States? What would you choose? I am willing to say the latter. Engaging in intergalactic warfare is a risk far too great that any world leader would be unwilling to take. It is extremely unwise and would almost surely deplete any nation of their most basic natural resources. On top of that, the amount of damage suffered to one's homeland would be catastrophic and almost ensure the demise of the victors, as well. Would you be willing to risk all of that just to prove your "dominance"? I would hope not. See, even us as mere humans can differentiate between such stupidities.
I may be living in a "fantasy" world but this fantasy world would attempt to defuse any tension instead of "grabbing a gun and getting violent with potentially friendly and harmless aliens". After all, life is precious and shouldn't be wasted.