Dirk Schulze-Makuch - What Sort Of Ethics Would Aliens Practice?

If aliens are driven mostly by biological imperatives, humanity could be in big trouble if we ever meet technologically advanced beings.

Key Takeaways

• Ethics derived from biological evolution can be harsh — parasitism, invasiveness, and survival at all costs.
• Ethics derived from human culture is far more benevolent.
• Would alien ethics be based more on biology or culture? Let's hope the latter.

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
What sort of ethics would aliens practice? Big think, in this season of
religious holidays, when we cherish peaceand goodwill, those of us who think
about our place in the universe mightwonder what ethical standards aliens, particularly technologically
advanced aliens, might follow, ifwe some day encounter them. Would they

(00:24):
be similar to the ethical standards ofhumans? Before you scream, I hope
not, consider that society's values havechanged quite a bit over the last ten
thousand years or so of human history. Even today, ethical standards vary a
lot from culture to culture. Butlet's use as a modern reference point the

(00:45):
values enshrined in the UN Charter andUniversal Declaration of Human Rights. Article one
of the Declaration states all human beingsare born free and equal in dignity and
rights, while Article two adds thateveryone is in titled to all the rights
and freedoms set forth in this Declaration, without distinction of any kind, such

(01:06):
as race, color, sex,language, religion, political or other opinion,
national or social origin, property,birth, or other status. Evolutionary
ethics thinking beyond just our current civilizationon Earth, we can distinguish between ethical
standards derived from biological evolution and thosederived from cultural evolution. Let's start with

(01:32):
biology. Nature prioritizes survival and reproductionabove all, and in the high stakes
game of evolutionary competition, everything isallowed. Parasites even use other life forms
to get the resources they need,with little regard for whether the host organism
dies as a result. One particularlycruel example from a human perspective is parasitoid

(01:57):
wasps, which lay their eggs insidetheir victims, after which the offspring devour
their way out. Parasitic life formsare common on our planet. By some
estimates, they outnumber the non parasites. On the other hand, nature offers
plenty of examples of cooperation. Inextreme cases, one species literally cannot live

(02:19):
without the other. Likens, infact, are a symbiotic partnership, a
long term biological relationship of cyanobacteria oralgae with fungal species. When it comes
to survival, the species is moreimportant than the individual organism. Mutations are
nearly always bad news for individuals,but for a species they're advantageous because they

(02:44):
are a key means by which thespecies adapts to changing environmental conditions. Seen
from a species survival perspective, theindividual has no real purpose after it procreates,
aging reduces its fitness to such alarge degree that the organism generally dies
quickly after reproducing. Seen from acultural context, however, older individuals still

(03:08):
have a purpose as they pass onexpertise from one generation to the next and
can help care for their offspring's offspring, the so called grandmother effect. This
has proven evolutionarily beneficial for humans.In this case, biology and culture move
in the same direction to enhance thesurvival of the human species cultural ethics.

(03:34):
At other times, biological and culturalevolution point in different directions. A prime
example is colonization. From a biologicalviewpoint, it's completely normal every species practices
some kind of colonization as it seeksout new habitats and resources. Those species

(03:54):
that don't go extinct. Of course, biological colonization often means that whatever indigenous
species was their first is replaced byinvaders. From a biological viewpoint, there's
nothing wrong with that. Whichever speciesis better suited to the environment will survive,

(04:15):
and if both species are equally welladapted, they both may thrive,
but at lower numbers. And Yetfrom a human cultural perspective, colonization has
gotten a bad rap, particularly inthe last centuries when European nations aggressiveness often
resulted in the suppression and sometimes eveneradication of indigenous human populations. In our

(04:38):
latest meeting of the Einstein Forum,hosted at the Technical University Berlin, we
considered some of these questions in discussingthe possible colonization of the Moon and Mars.
It became clear that our group's eagernessto colonize the Red planet with humans
depends on whether we find indigenous lifethere or not. Cultural evolution has brought

(05:00):
us to believe that indigenous life ona planet should be protected. This might
not categorically rule out a human Marscolony, but would strongly affect how it's
done. Think of the prime directivein Star Trek, which prohibits interference in
another society's evolution alien ethics. Wouldan alien civilization have such qualms? If

(05:23):
they're highly evolved, they would probablyrealize that remaining stuck forever on their home
planet poses a high risk of eventualextinction, a risk that can be mitigated
by colonizing other habitable planets and moons. Would they be ruthless in pursuing their
biological imperative like the aliens? Inthe movie Independence Day, or would they

(05:45):
follow a more culturally advanced strategy respectingindigenous life, especially if that life is
complex and possibly intelligent. If thelatter, they might choose to colonize only
planets and moons that are habitable uninhabited. But if the aliens badly needed another
planet's resources, they might abandon theselofty principles and pivot back to biology to

(06:09):
prioritize their own survival. The tensionbetween biological and cultural imperatives may become more
pronounced if conflict arises between a planet'sindigenous species and the new arrivals on Earth.
Conflicts between different individuals of the samespecies or different species don't necessarily result

(06:30):
in violence or even death, butin predator prey relationships, it's typically eat
or be eaten. Modern human societyclaims to favor non violent conflict resolution,
whether prompted by the UN Charter orthe teachings of Jesus. The Russia Ukraine
War, though, reminds us thatviolence is too often still used to resolve

(06:53):
a conflict. Would technologically advanced aliens, even hungry aliens, see us as
a fellow intelligent species that deserves respect. That might lead them to settle disputes
between us in a non violent way, or would they follow the cruel mandates
of biology and take what they need, or worse, see us a food

(07:14):
source or even pets. The ethicalstandards of aliens could therefore vary tremendously depending
on whether culture or biology rules.We have a better chance of settling things
peaceably if it's the former. Thisis not to vilify the biological imperative.
However, that's what helped shape usinto the species we are today.