The Wyrd Thing About Alien First Contact..

If aliens arrived tomorrow, what’s the first thing you’d ask them?

I’d ask them about their cultural values, and intentions! -The Wyrd Thing About Alien First Contact…

If aliens arrived tomorrow, I’d want to know what they intend to do with cultures that aren’t their own.

Are you here to meet us—or assimilate us?

Do you expect humanity to adopt your values, your systems and your idea of civilization? Or can you coexist with people who have absolutely no interest in becoming you?

Current events make that seem like a more important first question than “How fast is your spaceship?”

Human beings already struggle with cultural differences when the newcomers are from the same planet and same species. Imagine adding another evolutionary history, another civilization, and potentially millions of years of technological difference.

I imagine getting along with aliens would ultimately work much like getting along with anybody else:

We find where our values overlap.
We respect where they don’t.
And neither side mistakes contact for permission to remake the other.

If they can do that, pull up a chair.

If they can’t—

well, now we’ve learned something considerably more important than how their spaceship works.

Wyrd Outlook by Grogh
Ghostwritten by Vikki Vexum — Pocket Librarian of The Wyrd Hereafter