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Famed physicist Stephen Hawking recently made
headlines by explaining that even though extraterrestrial intelligence very likely exists in the universe, we probably don't want to meet aliens any time soon. "If aliens ever visit us," Hawking said, "I think the outcome would be much as when Christopher Columbus first landed in America, which didn't turn out very well for the Native Americans."
I agree completely. In fact, I've been considering writing an article on this subject for quite some time, but thought it would be construed as "too pessimistic" by many readers. But now that Hawking has opened the door on this topic, here's my take on it.
The most successful societies are the conquerorsSad as it may seem, peaceful societies never accomplish much in the way of spreading their culture, expanding their reach or populating new lands (or planets). All the really peaceful cultures on planet Earth -- Tibetan Buddhists, Amazonian tribes, Native American Indians, Indigenous Australians -- were unilaterally wiped out by far more aggressive and violent cultures.
The Earth today is dominated by those religions and cultures that were expansionary and aggressive in their ways. Aggressive populations always tend to destroy peaceful populations, taking over their lands and resources, eventually ruling their people.