Never expected that this thread would still be going.
Here’s a point worth discussing. Is it likely that an aggressive, war faring alien race is going to be able to develop space travel technology? Or is it more likely that, in order to develop space travel technology, a race has to be more interested in the science and exploration than war fare?
(And in saying ‘space travel’ I’m not talking about getting into orbit or the nearest planet. I’m talking about proper space travel. )
To put it another way is a race more interested in conquering, enslaving etc going to destroy itself before it gets to the stars?
Are we worrying about nothing?
Well, the point is we've
have developed space travel and I'd count us a pretty aggressive race...at least the beginnings of space technology. Who knows where we'll be in a hundred years, and what we'd be able to see via huge increases in telescopes, radio and optical and computing power. (Assuming we don't destroy ourselves of course, but I am, oddly, somewhat optimistic about that.)
But then how can anyone make an assumption that only some peaceable race of Carl Sagans could ever make the leap up to some sort of galactic travellers? I find this assumption a tad weak. This sort of assumption came about after the development of the atomic and H-bomb where there was a real fear that the world would be totally destroyed. (I've just read
Atomic: The First War of Physics and the Secret History of the Atomic Bomb 1939-49, I thoroughly recommend it as a book of modern history of this subject: very little physics, but a lot about the physicists of the time.) I'm not sure such a doomsday scenario holds up as much today - although I'll readily admit, we're still sitting with enough weapons to destroy ourselves and who knows what sort of regimes get into place and think they can get away with something...
Now, there is now a great deal of competition in space, even more so than in the 'golden age' of the cold war. We've got China, India, EU and commercial US interests now doing a lot more.
Also, I should point out, that to think of aliens as wanting to 'conquer, enslave' is a really human way of thinking about things. Perhaps there are intelligent beings like us out there that might think the same way as us. But, probably, if they are there, they really just don't...
But aliens could be so far away from us that they might view the whole planet as lacking in intelligence totally. Take a few genetic samples then perhaps just change everything to suit their own
alien needs. It might just look to us like being 'conquered'. There's a load of scenarios like this, that are nothing like conquer/expansion/cuddly aliens like Dr Sagan that exist!