|
|
|
|
|
|
by ericb
6618 days ago
|
|
|
I don't think we're highly advanced, so we have 0 data points from a highly advanced species. Collaboration leads to advancement and that trend applies to higher levels of advancement than we are at. For example, imagine there was no war. Trillions of dollars of economic activity could instead be directed toward, say, curing cancer. The more collaborative a society, the farther and faster it can advance. Learning from another species (thanks for the cool warp drive tips, Xarcon!) is a type of collaboration that offers benefits that a species doesn't get following the approach in the parent post. So, as a matter of policy, extending the openness to other species can be sound strategy. The rest of what you're saying is not really related to my argument, which was focused solely on the "personality" of highly advanced species. |
|
|
Learning from another species' technology is likely to be a largely one-way transaction. Instead of trading warp drive tips, it's much more likely that the "Xarcon" will have warp drive and we will not. (Or vice-versa.) In any case, if the other side has things like antimatter fueled starships, they may still have the potential to wipe out the other civilization, or at least preemptively cause huge damage to it. Why would another intelligent species give up a potential technological advantage without first assuring the safety of their own species? Of course, there are many ways of assuring such safety. In the case of practical warp drive, one way of doing this would be to withhold warp technology and use the intervening time to propagate your own species. Another option might be to absorb the less advanced species into some sort of confederation. Actually, a really savvy species would do both!