Page Content (OCR)
355 like we have on Earth, especially if it were on the verge of extinction. We would not be justified in exterminating the only alien life we know, or in appropriating its environment to our ends. This might inhibit plans to ter- raform Mars.” Mautner and Matloff looked at this question differently. Although they recognized an ethical objection to interfering with indigenous life- forms, they argued that our “pansperms” would be unlikely to cause damage to indigenous organisms by infection unless the their biology was similar to ours.*” What if they do? Competition between our pansperms and local biota would be an extension of the evolutionary struggle for the survival of the fittest—a concept that some might find ethically The questions become sharper if we encounter another society of intel- ligent beings. What will guide our behavior—pure self-interest or a higher ethic? Would we accept limits on human expansion in the regions of inter- est to the other society? Other expanding civilizations would face the same questions. The common ground may lie not in science, but in ethics. Power... ingests weaker centers of power or stimulates rival centers to strengthen themselves. ae TT RALRTAIID 1902931 What is love? It is the ability to confer survival benefits in a creatively enlarging manner upon the other. A allae RA Aw a 1077932 If some technological species explore or expand over large distances, one may eventually encounter another. That event may be the most crucial point in the evolution of a technological society. In it lies the potential for exchanges of experience and wisdom, and joint efforts in the work of intel- ligence. In it also lies the seeds of demoralization, cultural imperialism, and destructive conflict. Would each society see contact as a zero-sum game, a form of interstellar Darwinism in which the less “fit” might be destroyed? Or would they see it as an opportunity for cooperation, even assistance to the less advanced? Ethical considerations and Policy decisions, as much as physical factors, ake a may determine the outcome. Contact could be the moment of truth for technological civilizations, including ours. If that encounter is to have a productive result, a higher ethos, beyond human values alone, might be needed—not fuzzy-minded altruism, but enlightened self-interest in which civilizations help each other to survive. The Moment of Truth troublesome. The Moment of Truth —William H. McNeill, 1963*! —Ashley Montagu, 1972”