Lots of ways to inform us besides some spectacular announcement. Problem is our inherently corrupt nature compels us to implement newly discovered tech to our detriment. Unless increasingly higher intelligence includes increasingly higher moral standards, we're doomed. It appears our survival will depend on the aliens invading and enslaving us. Left to our own devices has proved we are without hope.
We don't know if higher intelligence translates to higher ethics. Might go the other way. So far we only have a sample size of 1 for life with ethics. And worryingly it seems that a lack of it (in humans) usually translates to higher chances of survival and more resources.
Well this could be one of the great filters that we have to pass through. Might be the reason why we didn't yet see signs of intelligent life in the universe. It may be that all intelligent species go through this filter, and maybe none come out of it.
Looking at where we've brought ourselves to this past century, it's odd you'd come to this conclusion. We're getting closer to the brink exponentially.
Well yes, that's what I'm trying to say. The environment we are in favors lack of ethics. It's very hard to gather lots of resources while being ethical. That's what's worrying. The appearance of ethics is what matters, not actual ethics (for social stability). Again, I'm talking about top resource gatherers, ethics do not help them gather more.
But the problem is not with the environment, it's with us. 'WE' are the problem.
The assertion was that given enough time and power anyone would tend towards behaving unethically is unfalsifiable by virtue of claiming any ethical person had insufficient time of and/or power. On the other hand, there are certainly unethical people out of the gate with little to no power at all. So I don’t see a causation as much as a correlation based on favored behaviors due to the way hierarchies tend to be structured, rather than something innate to hierarchies themselves.
Then there's ingroup vs outgroup ethics. Aliens might be ethical amongst themselves but act completely unethical to us.
We see this very often here on Earth. Also take external politics. Are the most powerful countries ethical to everyone else? They try to seem like they are. But the dirty stuff that takes place in the background...
We see this very often here on Earth. Also take external politics. Are the most powerful countries ethical to everyone else? They try to seem like they are. But the dirty stuff that takes place in the background...
It’s far more likely we’re going to encounter alien technology than alien life itself, assuming such a distinction could be made. See von Neumann probe.
There are two fundamental mindsets: Cooperative. Competitive. In the cooperative mindset, morals and ethics are beneficial in achieving common goals. In the competitive mindset, they work against achieving the singular goal of one faction. But after victory has been achieved, then the cooperative mindset is ascendant.
For this reason, you can expect that aliens should be guided by moral and ethical principles as they would not be expending energy on exploration if currently engaged in a competitive scenario. (War)
Unless they are not engaged in peaceful exploration, but instead, conquest. In that scenario, expect them to be amoral, not bound by ethical principles, and very ruthless.
For this reason, you can expect that aliens should be guided by moral and ethical principles as they would not be expending energy on exploration if currently engaged in a competitive scenario. (War)
Unless they are not engaged in peaceful exploration, but instead, conquest. In that scenario, expect them to be amoral, not bound by ethical principles, and very ruthless.
That was exactly my point, in earlier posts.
Depends. If we'd threaten their resources as neighbors then yes high chances. We might be just a curiosity, or entertainment. They might want us as pets.
But given the vast distances between systems or even galaxies then they'd spend so much energy reaching us that they could just use to make themselves a cloned Earth with cloned humans. At some point their travel here would imply so much energy that if they were able to gather it means they can harness the energy of stars or even blackholes. Why bother with possible conflict and headaches.
Given the age of the universe and what a tiny fraction of that time is required to dramatically separate species along the evolutionary scale it's more likely beings advanced enough to waste time visiting this tiny blue dot wouldn't care that much. Who here seriously wonders what the lemurs are thinking?
Ok, fair enough. To be honest a lot of this ground has been covered already here but I also understand the participants have changed. Welcome to the thread.