There is a question often asked, in one way or another, as to how friendly(or unfriendly) is ET. To me, this is a question of evolution; not simply biological but also, and perhaps more importantly, psychological. I do not pretend to have an answer to the above question but I offer one possible scenario for a developing society.
One thing that societies of all planets would probably have in common is the problem of Environment, Resource Control and Sustainability. What would the most successful approach to this problem lead to in terms of the overall mindset and behaviour of said populations?
Looking at our own population, it very much seems that alterations in the way society operates in practical terms gives rise to, in an overall view, significant changes in people's attitudes, desires and beliefs. So what of "living in harmony with the planet"? If our planetary society is to thrive then we require an extremely radical transformation of behaviour in order to create a sustainable system to support our population at the same time as maintaining a workable balance within the Environment in general.
I am not going to suggest that successful environmentalism would result in a population of excessively affectionate lovers of the mosquito but, surely, there would be an increased sense of discipline and duty within the Universe as an Environment. If this could happen here then, maybe, it could occur somewhere else.
It could be argued that not enough is known about the possibilities of DNA and its potential to result in various brain function and psychological traits for me to assume that other populations' psychological evolution could be similar to ours. I merely suggest that chemistry is limited in its possibility although, as it happens, I have no idea of what those limitations are!(Rip me to shreds while I carry on with my bold assumptions)
I can not help but suspect that, armed with their increased sense of discipline and duty they could easily find themselves having exactly the kind of attitude to the populations of other planets, such as ours, that many of us point out that they appear to have. Namely, they seem to prefer to operate at a distance while allowing us evidence that they are around. The question is often asked, "If they can do so much snooping around, why do they not engage us in a more convincing fashion?" Perhaps it is all about environments? They have their environment, where they operate with the necessary discipline. Our environment may be seen as significantly external to theirs. Their disciplined approach could result in them regarding our environment as, simply, not theirs(and so they strictly limit the extent of their interference). At the same time, they may feel that they want us to succeed(so they decide to show themselves so that we may ponder on a bigger, more successful, picture than many on this Earth do at present.
In conclusion, in this scenario(and that's all it is), they are not particularly friendly because, otherwise, they would probably try much harder to be of assistance. However, they have not appeared, so far, to represent a worst case scenario in terms of campaigns of terror and violence(although that depends on what you believe). Personally, if they are around, I am more than mildly optimistic they do not intend to enslave us but I may have spoken too soon!
One thing that societies of all planets would probably have in common is the problem of Environment, Resource Control and Sustainability. What would the most successful approach to this problem lead to in terms of the overall mindset and behaviour of said populations?
Looking at our own population, it very much seems that alterations in the way society operates in practical terms gives rise to, in an overall view, significant changes in people's attitudes, desires and beliefs. So what of "living in harmony with the planet"? If our planetary society is to thrive then we require an extremely radical transformation of behaviour in order to create a sustainable system to support our population at the same time as maintaining a workable balance within the Environment in general.
I am not going to suggest that successful environmentalism would result in a population of excessively affectionate lovers of the mosquito but, surely, there would be an increased sense of discipline and duty within the Universe as an Environment. If this could happen here then, maybe, it could occur somewhere else.
It could be argued that not enough is known about the possibilities of DNA and its potential to result in various brain function and psychological traits for me to assume that other populations' psychological evolution could be similar to ours. I merely suggest that chemistry is limited in its possibility although, as it happens, I have no idea of what those limitations are!(Rip me to shreds while I carry on with my bold assumptions)
I can not help but suspect that, armed with their increased sense of discipline and duty they could easily find themselves having exactly the kind of attitude to the populations of other planets, such as ours, that many of us point out that they appear to have. Namely, they seem to prefer to operate at a distance while allowing us evidence that they are around. The question is often asked, "If they can do so much snooping around, why do they not engage us in a more convincing fashion?" Perhaps it is all about environments? They have their environment, where they operate with the necessary discipline. Our environment may be seen as significantly external to theirs. Their disciplined approach could result in them regarding our environment as, simply, not theirs(and so they strictly limit the extent of their interference). At the same time, they may feel that they want us to succeed(so they decide to show themselves so that we may ponder on a bigger, more successful, picture than many on this Earth do at present.
In conclusion, in this scenario(and that's all it is), they are not particularly friendly because, otherwise, they would probably try much harder to be of assistance. However, they have not appeared, so far, to represent a worst case scenario in terms of campaigns of terror and violence(although that depends on what you believe). Personally, if they are around, I am more than mildly optimistic they do not intend to enslave us but I may have spoken too soon!
