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The only potential caveat to "There's zero evolutionary reason for aliens to behave altruistically" I can think of is that it may be quite improbable that speci
by zoba 17y ago
The only potential caveat to "There's zero evolutionary reason for aliens to behave altruistically" I can think of is that it may be quite improbable that species make it to long distance, space travelling status without being friendly. Perhaps if they are mean they will wipe themselves out, and so the species that live long enough to journey far into space do so because they're friendly enough to live long enough.
The rest of what you say I think I agree with (though I have no idea what a low albedo impactor is).
- stcredzero 17y agothe species that live long enough to journey far into space do so because they're friendly enough to live long enough. Note that they only have to be friendly to themselves to survive to get into space. What if the mechanisms that ensure their peaceful cooperation just don't apply to naked apes? Just one example: we say that a smile is "universal" but that's just because it's wired into our species. An alien species would've been subject to an entirely different evolutionary context. A smile would be meaningless to them. We still don't know everything about how altruism works in our own species. I posit that we have not a clue about how it would work with aliens, or even if it would exist at all towards us. (Another example: when was the last time you felt pity or forbearance in response to a reptilian submission signal?) I have no idea what a low albedo impactor is It's a kinetic projectile that doesn't reflect a lot of light.