“but perhaps the aliens are like human environmentalists who like to keep everything in its natural state.”
This is the kind of argument that makes me most believe there are no aliens. Like humans, there may be good environmentalists that work to keep worlds and cultures as untouched as possible. But that also represents a very small portion of human impact. No portion of our planet is untouched by humans, including those explicitly set to avoid. And every environmentally-conscious nature park or otherwise is teeming with those who visit and act on it whether inside or outside of set boundaries. Unless this presumed alien culture is so effectively and unreasonably authoritarian that none but the most exclusive are permitted and capable of visitation, I can’t imagine there being aliens here and it not being obvious due not to military sightings and poor camera captures but from almost everyone witnessing it with their own eyes on a frequent basis.
You have anticipated Robin Hanson’s argument. He believes that the only way that the aliens would be able to avoid having some splinter group changing the universe in obvious ways would be if they had a very stable and authoritarian leadership.
“but perhaps the aliens are like human environmentalists who like to keep everything in its natural state.”
This is the kind of argument that makes me most believe there are no aliens. Like humans, there may be good environmentalists that work to keep worlds and cultures as untouched as possible. But that also represents a very small portion of human impact. No portion of our planet is untouched by humans, including those explicitly set to avoid. And every environmentally-conscious nature park or otherwise is teeming with those who visit and act on it whether inside or outside of set boundaries. Unless this presumed alien culture is so effectively and unreasonably authoritarian that none but the most exclusive are permitted and capable of visitation, I can’t imagine there being aliens here and it not being obvious due not to military sightings and poor camera captures but from almost everyone witnessing it with their own eyes on a frequent basis.
You have anticipated Robin Hanson’s argument. He believes that the only way that the aliens would be able to avoid having some splinter group changing the universe in obvious ways would be if they had a very stable and authoritarian leadership.