I feel like avoiding them or waiting might end up with a situation where some group of humans causes irreversible harm because they think they know better.
Once enough deliberation has been done and we’re ready to act in good faith, we should probably make contact and set a good precedent quickly. Maybe then we can guide future interactions in a more positive way?
I’m more concerned that the “other species” will just be us splintering into the following four groups. “Genetic Purists” that will refuse any sort of genetic or technological advancement. The Technophiles that will accept any form of genetic or cybernetic advancement. The Cyborgs that will accept only cybernetic advancements. Finally, The Neo-Humans that will only accept genetic advancements.
Wonderful. We now have only 4 possible categories of future humans. This simplifies things enormously, if, and only if, we reject the rest of our historical divisions.
If such a scenario did come to pass, I would hope that humanity as a whole is advanced enough to call out the bigots and racists, so as to shut down any division in the species. I know that we have it in us, we literally have thousands of years of prehistory that is telling us that cooperation on the grand scale is how we started.
Racism is a fairly modern concept. It was invented in Portugal in the late 1500s to early 1600s to justify the North American slave trade, because some people were asking how that could be justified under the teachings of The Christ that said that we all are equal. Racism as we know it is barely 400 years old.
I hope that as we progress we will return to the ideals of equality and democracy.
I know this is about humanity, not another species, but I fear that if this isn’t fixed before we meet another species we will inadvertently, and with the best intentions be colonizing assholes yet again.
I’d like to see us study them from a distance, find out what’s different about them from us, and consider what could be improved about our civilization.
Depends on the size of the species. If they are smaller than the average human, most definitely approach them onto a grill and eat them. If they are larger, that approach is still viable, but their size may be difficult if they are similar in scale to mammoths but have opposable thumbs.
Alternatively, it may be insightful to consider the precedents for this. Leprechauns have lived in civilized secrecy for thousands of years, and gnomes have been documented performing organized crime or acts of violence. Regardless of whether humans are related to either, they would be a distinct species from homo sapiens. It may be the case that for any species on Earth that develops civilization, it ensures approach doesn’t happen.
Why decide already to eat them? Grill them, sure, if they’re a threat, but what if they’re poisonous or just smell/taste like vomit after a night of slamming beers?
And let them organize their civilized society enough to the point where they arrange to cook and eat me, explaining to me as I am grilled on the barbie that human rights aren’t real because the only species with established civilized rights is theirs? Eat first and ask questions later
Let only certain people interact with them who agree to not drag their culture into matters. Some might say dolphins are a living proto-example of this. Some interaction can be good, but then there’s hypercultural exchanges we have with them. And then there will be interspecies scars that will resonate forever. Handle them similar to Antarctica.
In practical terms, they would have to live either underwater or underground for the real estate. Underwater, it would either be some variety of octopus, which we would make an enemy of almost immediately, or a cetacean, which would be poached to extinction within a few years. Leave the octopus alone, approach the mammal and advise them to swim the fuck away. Quickly. I’m not sure what might be stewing underground and I’m not sure I’d want to know.
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