So imagine you’re living like you are, today, and somehow some message appears from a remote tribe that has never had contact with civilization before. The message reads “help! We’ve discovered fire and it’s going to kill us! Help! Come quick!”
I’m not sure this analogy teaches us much. A lot depends on what the surprise is—that there is a civilization there that knows how to communicate but hasn’t yet, or that the civilization we’ve been leaving alone for Prime Directive reasons has finally discovered fire. A lot depends on whether we take that fear seriously as well.
The answer could be any of:
come teach them to be safe, knowing it won’t be the last interference we make.
open the interference floodgates—come study/exploit them, force them to be safe.
kill them before their fire escapes.
build firebreaks so they can’t hurt others, but can advance by themselves.
So imagine you’re living like you are, today, and somehow some message appears from a remote tribe that has never had contact with civilization before. The message reads “help! We’ve discovered fire and it’s going to kill us! Help! Come quick!”
What do you do?
I’m not sure this analogy teaches us much. A lot depends on what the surprise is—that there is a civilization there that knows how to communicate but hasn’t yet, or that the civilization we’ve been leaving alone for Prime Directive reasons has finally discovered fire. A lot depends on whether we take that fear seriously as well.
The answer could be any of:
come teach them to be safe, knowing it won’t be the last interference we make.
open the interference floodgates—come study/exploit them, force them to be safe.
kill them before their fire escapes.
build firebreaks so they can’t hurt others, but can advance by themselves.