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What you are missing is that technological advancement can accelerate exponentially. Couple this fact nothing can move faster than light. This means if you don'
by nafey 6y ago
What you are missing is that technological advancement can accelerate exponentially. Couple this fact nothing can move faster than light. This means if you don't stamp out alien life as soon as you encounter it then the next time you come back they might already have achieved technological parity with you. And they might not be as forgiving as you are. This means you have to hide and you have to exterminate any alien life that knowns about your existence. I do think if oumuamua was an alien probe then we should be gravely concerned.
- kentonv 6y ago> the next time you come back This is imagining that space exploration is done by human-like entities that have discrete physical bodies and slow reproduction rates. They come to a place, check it out, and move on. AI-driven Von Neumann probes would operate very differently. They arrive, and they settle and replicate. Eventually they send out new probes. But they don't leave once they have arrived. There's never any reason to leave.
- nafey 6y agoOkay the point is you won't wait to mobilize against alien life. Assuming that technology increases exponentially it will be prudent to launch as soon as you detect the alien life even if it takes you a hundred years to reach the destination.