<html><head><meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"></head><body dir="auto">On Mar 3, 2018, at 8:25 AM, John Clark <<a href="mailto:johnkclark@gmail.com">johnkclark@gmail.com</a>> wrote:<blockquote type="cite"><div><div dir="ltr"><div class="gmail_default">
<p class="gmail-p1" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif">On Fri, Mar 2, 2018 at 9:54 AM, Dave Sill <<a href="mailto:sparge@gmail.com">sparge@gmail.com</a>> wrote:</p>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left-width:1px;border-left-color:rgb(204,204,204);border-left-style:solid;padding-left:1ex"><i> > it is cheaper for ETI to send a malicious message to eradicate humans compared to sending battleships.</i></blockquote>
<p class="gmail-p1" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif">Battleships are obsolete, a Von Neumann Probe that weighed less than an ounce could, if properly programed, eradicate the entire human race and it would be almost as cheap as a message and much more reliable,...except that...well...what would be the point? What do we have that ET wants? There is quite literally an astronomically huge amount of matter and energy that is going to waste in the universe that is not being controlled by any intelligent agency, so why does ET need the ridiculously paltry amount that we’re using?</p></div></div></div></blockquote><div>I’ve not been following this discussion closely, so forgive me if I’m repeating something already posted and maybe even refitted... The usual reasons I see for why ETI might be hostile are that it fears exponential growth of another civilization (simply that eventually it and the other civilization will compete over resources or location so why not nip it in the bud) or that it fears another civilization might view it this way (as eventually competing with it — even if it (the ETI) plans to be completely friendly/cooperative/noncompetitive). I’m not saying I accept either. I actually believe the benefits of contact and cooperation outweigh those of hostility and aggression. (I’m not saying the benefits are likely do great that an ETI would invest huge efforts into scouring or scouting the universe for potential contact or for trading partners or whatnot. Then again, looking at the tiny amount of resources human civilization devoted and devotes to anthropology.)</div><div><div><div style="line-height: normal;"><div style="line-height: normal;"><span style="line-height: 20px; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></div><div><div style="line-height: normal;"><span style="line-height: 20px; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Dan</span></div><div style="line-height: normal;"><span style="line-height: 20px; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"> Sample my latest Kindle book "Sand Trap":</span></div><div style="line-height: normal;"><font color="#000000" style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><a href="http://mybook.to/SandTrap" style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">http://mybook.to/SandTrap</a></font></div></div><div style="line-height: normal;"><br></div><div><br></div></div><div><div style="line-height: normal;"></div></div></div></div></body></html>