... we discovered a planet and after learning everything about that planet's history and current conditions, we could say without a doubt that we, earth, have done so much better than they have? For argument's sake, assume estimations of how long they've existed (planet and civilization) is the same. Basically, it took them the same time it took us to get to what we are today. Would all the whining about "we're such a miserable race" and "such a horrible world" stop? I have 6 minutes to leave before doing the final exam of basically the last university course in my career... But I couldn't help but ponder this... Maybe we think everything is so horrible (racism, harrasment, abuse) because there's no comparison? Maybe we should sit back and say "hey, it's not perfect, but we've done a f-ing good job!" You think our achievements are being belittled a litte? Who knows. But it's something to think about... What if such a planet was discovered?
No it would not stop. There will always be crybabies. And we all know aliens are a superior race than humans. That's not even debatable.
We would end up considering them something less than peers, a la what we do with dogs, cats, horses, etc. nowadays. That way, the whiners would have something to whine about, and the optimists could gloat about what a great job we are doing here on Earth if we are far superior than other planets. We'd also probably import them to our planet, either as slave labor, exotic pets, or science experiments.
Make the assumption that they are equal beings but arrived at different conclusions at different points in history. I don't see why we can't say things like "damn, I can take this credit-card sized device out of my pocket and contact anyone, anywhere. We are amazing." or "This work specialization thing is excellent. Thumbs up the human race!" or "Wow, we only had two world wars. That other planet had 7!! What vicous animals they are!"
That kind of comparisons happen now . .just not as global Americans look a Germany and be like. . THEY HAD A HOLOCAUST!! *WE* would never have supported something like that . .. NEVER . . WE AMERICANS! nevermind the almost complete destruction of the Native American or the enslavement of African Americans The French will Point out the holocaust but not their efforts in Foreign wars From you own point of view. . . I think folx have a tendency to take the position of superiority . . Rocket River
A couple of things to ponder here. First how are we judging them? Are we judging them on technological sophistication, cultural sophistication, population, number of wars? Different societies have varying levels of advancement that might not always comparable accross the board for instance in 1600 European societies had a technical superiority over Asian societies yet greatly lagged in terms of population and culture. For instance more wars and conflicts were fought between the separate European states than compared to China which was geographically as large as Europe yet had many long periods of stability. The other problem with finding another planet that we appear to be superior too in most regards and using that as a justification to argue for the superiority of the human race is you have to consider why those differences occurred. For instance civilizations in Meso America had existed for almost as long as civilizations in Europe yet they greatly lagged behind in terms of technology. One could argue that Europeans were innately superior to Meso Americans but more likely Europeans were luckier than Meso-Americans. Also factors that may make one civilization seem lacking compared to another may actually make them stronger. For instance Europeans lacking long periods of regional unity and vast natural resources led to more emphasis in developing military and transportation technology in addition to developing mercantile based economies. While China with vast populations and resources focussed on developing political organizing structures such as bureacracy and paper money. I would suggest reading Jared Diamond's Guns, Germs and Steel to see how geographic differences help to create differences between civilizations and why some civilizations have come to dominate others.
