Photo: supplied
Perhaps it’s our inherent optimism, but a lot of people seem to think that if an advanced species were to land on Earth they’d bend over backwards to help us by sharing their technology. That sure isn’t how it worked here on Earth when a more advanced culture encountered one they considered to be lower down in the pecking.
Remember how the white man shared his advanced skills, tools, and medical knowledge with the native peoples? Not me.
History records that all our great white grandfathers shared with the indigenous tribes were his diseases and a lack of respect for their cultures. To them, the First Peoples were mere children. Even as late as the mid-1900s the god-fearing folk at Canada’s church schools thought nothing of beating “the savage” out of their young wards.
It’s a sad story that has repeated itself again and again as different cultures meet. Perhaps we are a bit more socially appreciative of others today. Still nothing seems to be as deeply-rooted in human nature as the need for one group to dominate another.
But let’s get back my visitation by a species from a distant galaxy. There’s little doubt that they would have an advanced technology. How else could they get here? But would they have an advanced sense of sociology? This isn’t a Star Trek wish world. So I suspect the tale of the conquering race would happen all over again.
Stephan Hawking warned us of this possibility more than a decade ago when commenting on SETI’s mission to call out to aliens from afar. I think it’s a potential plight worth seriously considering. At the worst, we could wind up as food for our new master’s table. Anyone care for a nice tender Bob flambé with a tall glass of Pinot Ethel?
On the flip side of the coin, Dr. Brian May questions whether we humans are ready to venture into deep space. Will we make the same blunders there that we have here on our home planet? Will our space-going children wind up marauding a planet’s or an asteroid’s available resources in the name of greed and profit? Will they leave behind a trail of geological scars and industrial waste? And what if they should encounter another species? Will they be grown up enough to co-exist with them?
Stargazing by John Crossen
