[gnramires]

I, for one, am sad about those other assimilations too.

> Civilization is basically an ever expanding cultural grey goo meat grinder

In some ways, it was, in some ways, it wasn't. Civilization allows some ideas and some ways of life that aren't/weren't possible otherwise. An example cited in this thread is that of an aboriginal group (Pintupi Nine) that became artists after contact with civilization. Surely being a dedicated artist would be much more difficult without civilization support. Many civilizations were respectful of regional differences and even local religions and other beliefs (even e.g. Alexander). I mean, modern civilization essentially respects regional differences and has understood rights w.r.t. cultures. If you look at the consensus from social sciences it seems by far in the side of non-uniformization as being healthier and preferable choice for societies (and hence for policymaking). And of course and some of the absurdities of 20th century were ideas of supremacy and forced uniformity.

And most important, civilization is not static (and not a physical law), it's a system, maybe almost like an operating system, and we continually are making choices on how to build it. And studying how our design choices contribute to better, more fulfilling, more interesting existences.

I assure you, those choices are being made right now, and more active participation, in-depth study and science are important to assure to good future. (you shouldn't use the first few OS designs as a rule that all OSes will need to follow forever)