What if aliens are simply keeping us at arms length?

Hear me out.

Let’s start w the premise that ideas turn the dark matter of our universe into resources. It’s the fount of all civilisations and an alien one might want to adopt an arms-length approach with us to keep our knowledge base distinct. Why? To enlarge the potential pool of ideas. And be able to eventually mine them.

Ideas are like babies. Many have untold potential, but we’re unable to foresee their growth trajectory. If we smother all the laggards, we may foreclose some of their eventual triumph.

Ideas compete on two layers - its memetic appeal (resonance) and applicability in reality (action). At times, they converge. But some ideas may not be falsifiable, especially at their infancy.

If the alien civilisation flood ours with their advanced knowledge, it predetermines our trajectory - to converge with theirs. There may be variations in terms of degrees, rather than axial directions. ‘Cos we already have a fully formed idea of how we could (and should) advance.

Think of how Western civilisation has largely outcompeted Asian civilisation recently. As Junichirio Tanizaki puts it ‘the Orient quite conceivably could have opened up a world of technology entirely on its own (in the conduct of everyday lives, government, business and art). Western paper, is to us no more than something to be used, while the texture of Chinese and Japanese paper gives us a certain feeling of warmth, calm and repose. [If there was still widespread use], our thought and literature might [instead] push forward into new regions. An insignificant piece of writing equipment, when one thinks of it, has a vast, almost boundless, influence on our [Asian] culture.’

Some may ask - can’t the alien civilisation interact with ours but erect a Chinese wall to prevent the copying of technologies to nudge ours along a different path? I think this presupposes that a boundary is sufficient to ward off mimetic pressures. Arguably, an arms length approach would better serve this aim.

Submitted May 23, 2022 at 06:57AM by spell_abc https://ift.tt/PJge2My