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302 An extraterrestrial civilization could be made up of many political units, particularly if it has expanded beyond its home planet or its home solar system. We may hear messages from a rebellious political entity or an obscure sect; some of Earth’s most powerful radio transmitters have been operated by proselytizing religions. What if we hear from competing groups, each with a different story to tell? A Mirror Image. Although most of those involved in the recent debate about sending communications to extraterrestrials believe that Human- kind should speak as one, others strongly resist this idea.’ If we are unlikely to speak with one voice, why would extraterrestrials be more likely to do so? We will want to know to whom we are talking and with whom we should deal. An alien civilization would want to know the same about us. Optimists tend to assume that an alien message will convey reliable infor- mation. To some, it would be a kind of revealed truth from on high. Yet, as space lawyer Ernst Fasan reminded us, the motivations that extrater- restrials have for sending messages may not be easily discerned.'* The best test is to ask how honest we would be in telling an alien civili- zation about ourselves. Would we fully describe Humankind, warts and all? We have not done this in any of the major messages that we have sent out by radio or by plaques on spacecraft. The Voyager records portrayed the positive side of the Earth; absent were images of poverty, disease, and nuclear mushroom clouds.'’ A declaration that we are a peaceful species would hardly reflect historical reality. Could we honestly say that we assure social justice among humans? Some people would want only a censored encyclopedia transmitted, thought McDonough, one that omitted the countless embarrassing and horrifying parts of our history to make us appear more civilized than we really are. Goldsmith foresaw a “lust for censorship.”!'® Extraterrestrials also might censor the less attractive facts about their civilizations. The drafting of a message to aliens would be heavily influenced by the fact that such a transmission also is a message to ourselves. We would be tempted to disguise our problems while inflating our achievements. Extra- terrestrials might not be above doing that themselves. We men, the creatures who inhabit this earth, must be to them at least as alien and lowly as are the monkeys and lemurs to us. We wan. 1007117 Assumptions: After Contact They Mean What They Say They Will Treat Us Fairly —H.G. Wells, 1897!”