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And, if one civilization found another it would take massive amounts of resources and time to launch an interstellar attack. I doubt humanity's first reaction w
by guelo 11y ago
And, if one civilization found another it would take massive amounts of resources and time to launch an interstellar attack. I doubt humanity's first reaction would be to embark on a giant project to somehow try to destroy the other civilization. This idea makes no sense.
- pavel_lishin 11y agoIt would take a massive amount of resources if you're in a rush. What if you just lob a rock with a couple of steering thrusters towards a star using a solar sail? When it gets to the solar system, it tracks towards the nearest inhabitable planet, and does the thing that big rocks do.
- TrevorJ 11y agoI assume that because in this metaphor we are the baby. Reduce the scenario to, say two small human villages that just discovered each other, and it's not so hard to see how our tendency is to overrun and destroy, either by intention or by mistake. That's certainly something that has played out over and over again in our history.
- snowwrestler 11y agoYou're right, the hunters analogy breaks down if we imagine that the hunters are each on their own isolated continent. They couldn't attack each other even if they knew the other existed. That's how the universe works as we understand it now. And if we're wrong--if it is possible for a civilization to be capable of mounting an interstellar attack--they might not see themselves as a "fellow hunter." They might think nothing of harming us incidentally, like a kid burning ants with a magnifying glass.