1. Leap and Adapt
Through the visits and exchanges with other civilizations, human technology related to time and space, clean energy and power technology has been greatly improved, and interstellar travel has matured. It has been used for reference under the application conditions, from the step-by-step and detailed landing of each planet in the solar system to the exploration of the entire galaxy one by one, which once became the focus of society. The passion and wisdom of space art and literary creation have been stimulated and prospered again, and the once metaphysical problems of philosophy are no longer unresolved due to the diversification of approaches. The combination of biotechnology, computer technology, and nanotechnology has given humans a deeper understanding of the concept of evolution of their own species.
Many old-time problems, such as energy crisis, air pollution, territorial disputes, extinction of species, etc., have also been alleviated to varying degrees. When the focus of progress and diplomacy is more and more placed in areas outside the atmosphere, it is even more necessary for the earth to abandon the old hatred and form a united and unified foreign power. But at the same time, some of the status quo will not be changed due to the intervention of external technology and civilization: the social structure, wealth distribution, and education level formed by the original generations will continue to maintain for a period of time, crime, black market, pornography, gambling and drugs, etc. Long-standing problems will continue, and the Matthew effect brought about by technological progress has already appeared during the Industrial Revolution.
In addition, some new problems arise because of external intervention. Religions big and small have shaken and blurred the absolute and eternal concept of worship, and various kinds of embodied gods have derived new worship or localized combination due to the similarity or difference of foreign visitors. In more countries with a long history of religions, people who once believed deeply caused confusion in their beliefs in a short period of time, which affected the normal operation of society to a certain extent. In the process of continuous reconstruction of people's three views, the selfishness, recklessness, parochialism and immaturity of the society as a whole have been gradually improved.
Political systems, such as democracy and centralization, are only useful to one's own people, not to others. Faced with a civilization with more history, wisdom or technology than itself, how should human beings define the ownership and use of the earth? How big is it? How deep is it? Should it include the moon and other planets in the solar system and their moons? What about existing facilities? Internal discussions will be respected, but without the aid of external consultations, a significant outcome will not be produced.
2. Alliances and conflicts
Once human beings enter an environment where many civilizations coexist and even compete, alliances and conflicts will coexist and are inevitable. Regardless of whether the visitor later becomes an ally, an enemy or a neutral person, just as a new country claims to be established, some countries will recognize its legitimacy and develop diplomatic relations, and some countries will oppose its legitimacy and take unfriendly measures , when human beings enter space on a large scale, alliances and conflicts with other civilizations will also be triggered intentionally or unintentionally as the boundaries of exploration expand.
Perhaps an alliance of many civilizations would invite humans to join as full members, or perhaps a vast empire would wish to formally include this galaxy on the fringes of the galaxy as part of its shared prosperity. Whether by means of diplomacy or tangible and intangible forms of war, differences and consensus arising from multiple civilizations will be reproduced from the original state and national level to planets and even galaxies, still including territory, resources, and life. The evolution of species over hundreds of millions of years has been accompanied by competition among species, spiraling in alliances and conflicts, and I do not know where to be led.
3. Return and Reflect
After generations of people's discussion of new civilizations and new technologies and new discoveries, they have gradually been replaced by further improved concepts and knowledge. It is inevitable to look back and compare and reflect, and may even come sooner than expected. For example, studies that focus on sociological, historical, and psychological levels, how many contacts actually happened before the official contact recorded? How long did it last? What is the purpose? Who initiated it? Is there official involvement or acquiescence? Are the urban legends that have been circulating for many years all made up? There will also be inevitable re-examination of historical miracles, legends, visions, celebrity records, etc., to fill the gap between culture and technology. The hints and amazing coincidences in the film and television works will also be talked about, and even suspected to be the foreshadowing of the formation of a certain kind of open consciousness. It is found that space opera is not only a combination of art and fantasy, but also an insinuation of reality. This will make people doubt Are we under a procedure?
The existence of the philosophical level will be discussed again. With the help of the comparison and exchange of diverse wisdom civilizations, the big discussion at the level of worldview will be a religious-like pure spirit after stripping the object of figurative worship. In order to seek and explore the meaning of existence, the trajectory of life, the abstract concepts behind emotional and value behaviors.
Unlike sympathy, kindness, and love, which can influence each other at the emotional level, as well as the commonalities in technology, the differences between intelligent civilizations are not reflected in abstract consciousness or technology, but at cultural and biological levels. The unique languages, customs, stories, craftsmanship, etc. between different civilizations, as well as species conservation and research, were once unprecedentedly prosperous and open.
4.
Enthusiasm for exploring geographical boundaries and new civilizations and species in the age of known and unknown great voyages has been stimulated again. Continents, planets, and galaxies, from vertical to deep, gave birth to the legend of countless space operas. The prosperity of known knowledge has made its inheritance impossible to complete with the help of paper libraries. Holographic technology and more durable and stable storage media have given the concept of tablet computers an unparalleled vitality. By contacting and discovering more intelligent creatures and civilizations, people have also realized the differences and commonalities of life (the classic configuration of two legs and one brain). "There's no question we don't know the answer to." A scholar of that era proudly shouted this familiar phrase.
But what is the ultimate source? The myriad forms of life, including us, intelligent, growing, primitive, what does the past and future of its evolution mean to individuals and groups? Does life, the world repeat itself in a cycle or from the beginning to the end? What is the meaning behind this?
The surface of the sun
's continuous accumulation of the known, and the tireless dedication to the unknown, including the above problems, are likely to appear regardless of whether people have or have come into contact with other intelligent civilizations. Temporary known, eternal unknown.
5.
There are some vague but sharp questions about AI and life that may be debated without any achievements before contacting the outside world, such as fear of whether AI has the ability to think and destroy us, and how to define human beings or life. The problem is difficult to have a clear concept, and it has risen to the question of whether "half-machine" or "full-machine" can be defined as life and people with moral and legal rights after all kinds of life, soul, and mechanical circuit programs replace part of the human body's functions. Think divergently. And include reasoning summaries such as the law of the dark forest, Fermi paradox, and grandfather paradox.
These questions are more like a lonely individual in a long-term confinement trying to deduce various hypotheses that he has never seen outside the house based on the appearance of the house. When the door is opened from the outside, the content of these previous hypotheses It is no longer important. In other words, I'm afraid that these life-derived issues we'll only be chattering about before we're formally in contact with other intelligent life, and then becoming irrelevant after we're officially in contact with other intelligent life. Only in rare cases, if a species self-invents AI before it formally contacts other intelligent life, presumably it has become a thing of the past by the time other life discovers this species.
Without a comparison reference, how can a deeper understanding of (intelligent) life be reasoned and justified by independent thinking?
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