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Comment by smtddr | Hacker News Reader

You think that's the only, or even main, reason we explore the universe?

What if we do it because it's in our nature to explore? Just pure curiosity? To increase our understanding of existence and evolve into something more? Also, this concept of it's safer to find aliens before they find us sounds like you're already of the mindset of war and you want a tactical advantage over something that you've never seen or know anything about. I really hope not everyone thinks of exploring the universe as just another military mapping of strategic attack/defense positions. If the human race is still being driven by fear and war when star-trek-style travel becomes possible, then maybe it's better we just die right here rather than export our madness throughout the galaxy.

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Uhh... I voted you up for the first part.

The second part was simply naive. Please consider game theory.

Yours (and mine) moral is from a society with a functioning police force, rule of law and state violence monopoly. Without that, there is a clan society, where your only security is that others (generally relatives) will revenge you. A form of terror balance. Out moral just doesn't work there, since to avoid violence you have to make people believe you are ready to inflict it.

(I am unaware of a third alternative to state violence monopoly and clan societies. There are obviously places in between, with organized crime (south Italy, Mexico?). Please educate me if I miss something basic?)

Let me take an example:

There is no world police since Obama seems to be abdicating USA's partial role, countries now live in an analogue of a clan society (e.g. do alliances for protection from aggression).

Consider how Russia and China are starting the jingoism garbage again. How do you know other countries/species won't?

tl;dr: Don't take your moral instinct for logic.

>>since to avoid violence you have to make people believe you are ready to inflict it.

So basically... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Butter_Battle_Book

If this is truly all the human race is capable of; living in a perpetual stalemate of attack-power then we should just stay on our earth and perish.

I assume you're trolling, but will waste a few more minutes:

Game theory is used for evolution too, so you're a creationist?

A longer answer would be along the lines of:

Humans have a wide range of possible behaviours, the trick is to organize society so we get a "nice" place (i.e. it is not "paying" to be non-"nice", please note quotes for complex PhD thesis definitions). If you're not able to see the world, your decision will have harmful effects according to your own morals. In short, your absolute moral judgements is a problem as much as Putin...

(I just wish that there were some way of educating away moral condemnation of people which refuse to understand stuff which goes against their ideology.)

Knowing idealists, in some generations people like you will want to genetically modify people to follow your morals -- Socialist "new human" style. We know how that goes, not only from science fiction.

But I already wrote an answer and got a non sequitur.

On consideration, I was probably trolled.

I pointed out that without rule of law, societies generally becomes clan societies. Out of pure game theory. And discussed why and how we know to avoid that.

You quote part of my description of clan societies -- and condemned humanity.

If you're not a teenager, that is too stupid to be anything but bad trolling.

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