http://www.bigthink.com/adobe/Logo_250X250.jpg http://www.bigthink.com/adobe/Background_1024X576.jpg http://www.bigthink.com/adobe/Banner_686X60.jpg http://www.bigthink.com/adobe/Half-Banner_234X60.jpg http://www.bigthink.com/adobe/Logo_250X250 http://www.bigthink.com/adobe/Logo-Watermark_250X250.jpg http://www.bigthink.com/adobe/Background_1024X576.jpg http://www.bigthink.com/adobe/Half-Banner-ALT_234X60.jpg Bigthink http://www.bigthink.com/feed/rss/comment/idea/9528 Wed, 20 Aug 2008 05:57:50 +0100 FeedCreator 1.7.2 http://www.bigthink.com/science-technology/space-time/9528 While human civilization has definitely evolved beyond the simple hunter/gatherers of the paleolithic, we must take into account the second party: the alien civilization. More than likely, their civilization has not evolved in the same context as our own, and therefore their social norms will be far different than our own. For example, perhaps their idea of peace is so radically different from our own that upon first contact, we may be convinced that we are being invaded. Furthermore, if we do make peace, how are we to communicate? They certainly wouldn't speak english, and their physiology culture might make it so that their means of communication is impossible for us to decipher. These are the kind of questions that must be taken into account, rather than simply examining past instances of first contact between human civilizations (none of which, it would seem, have turned out perfectly). Bigthink Wed, 23 Apr 2008 17:51:04 +0100 http://www.bigthink.com/science-technology/space-time/9528/#15391