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originally posted by: Direne
a reply to: boozo
Come on, boozo, I have already said what I think about that: a civilization is either compassionate or it ceases to be a civilization. But here the example of the Amerindian tribes or the aboriginal stronghold of the North Sentinel Islands is relevant.
Is the civilization of humans compassionate because it does not help these aborigines, or is it compassionate because it helps them? Can you help without imposing? Can you help without contaminating the ideas of those you help? And if we choose to respect them and not intervene, should we warn them when we know that a tsunami is approaching their island and will sweep it away, or should we continue to watch without warning them?
To complicate the case further, suppose you have to place a GPS repeater on that island to ensure that you can save lives of ships in distress in the Indian Ocean, and there is no other place to place the repeater. Do you stop placing it there just because you adhere to the no-contact policy? And if you finally choose to place that repeater, have you not culturally and absolutely contaminated those aborigines?
You always have the option of placing it so that they do not notice it, in a covert operation, and concealing its presence. But then you would be like SV17q: a secret group that places strange artifacts on the sly and never leaves living witnesses. See, the decision is not an easy one. To contact or not to contact is never an easy decision, but when it comes to saving lives I would understand SV17q's decisions, and I would understand if you put your GPS repeater on that island to save the lives of sailors in the Indian Ocean.
Selfishness also has its rules and limits, as does altruism.
More fun fact:
Father son duo on board
"He works with his family's Dawood Foundation, as well as the SETI Institute - a California-based research organisation which searches for extra-terrestrial life."