I don't think it's reasonable at all to assume that the pattern of our species is universal or even common. The problem with the assumption is that our sample-

I don't think it's reasonable at all to assume that the pattern of our species is universal or even common. The problem with the assumption is that our sample-size, as far as our species is concerned, is one. The very concept of society may not exist for an alien that is a single collective intelligence or for one that has simply developed a very advanced set of instinctual responses without higher-level thought.