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I thought we covered that. It's the basis for trade, potentially of valuable resources. Further, if we can accomplish all of that (which is likely within our technological limitations) we've just traded science and information. Studying these foreign lifeforms could mean a host of new...

You can't know that for sure. We have people that have been studying lots of different creatures and cultures for a long time - we learn more all the time. There are some human cultures that are still being studied that we don't fully understand and people are even studying modern culture that...

Why couldn't we create a martian-like atmosphere in something like a greenhouse? Why is it impossible?

True, but we think we're pretty smart people and can eventually understand other people. So - we'd try it before sending off whatever method of destruction you can think of. And, history shows that we'll try it a lot and for a long time. Similar technology level != same technology...

Like I said, how they think doesn't matter if we can communicate with them. I think it's not a stretch that they might think in a similar way - in order to achieve the requisite level of technology to communicate, they would need some sort of workable scientific logic. That should be enough...

Why couldn't we trade information with them? Why couldn't we communicate with them? The technology exists for both and has existed for quite some time.

Civilizations destroyed as a result of pure paranoia? I don't think so. If anything, there have been land-grabs: the Mongols, Native American Indians, the Crusades. Still, for the most part, they have been isolated occurrences in history, and there are more that have been unsuccessful. No...

Trade of information can happen immediately - that's pretty valuable. And with current tech - $6B to send a new team to Mars in a first-of-its-kind project. If we were sending people to an earth-like planet where they may not need the same kind of atmospheric protections, and without several...

Gotcha! I think I have 1-6 if you need them (you probably have them somewhere too, I'm sure), I just thought there might've been another page with more stuff that I wasn't seeing. Guess not! Thanks!

I must be missing something obvious - sorry! As a subscriber, I want to download WotBS. So I go to (http://www.enworld.org/forum/content.php?123-subscribers-content). However, I only see Chapters 7-12. How do I get at 1-6 and (presumably) the rest of the Subscriber Content?

Gonna hit level 8 this week...

... said no humanity ever. If I'm to appeal to your cynicism, try this one on: People aren't evil, they're greedy. Civilization isn't killing you and taking your stuff, it's bleeding you dry via credit card rates. Which takes you along a very different historical path - it asks the question...

Disagree - the earth is full of countries unequal in military power that still benefit from co-operation. That's sort of what macroeconomics is based upon.

Only with great difficulty and crippling costs. Which is another way of saying - not realistically. Further, both sides would be further advantaged by trade. Think about how this already doesn't happen on an international level. They probably think in a similar manner to how we do - but...

Congratulations! That's 2^4 * 10^3 !

I completely disagree. I still think no one has satisfactorily explained why we would attack them - it's not cost-efficient and it doesn't provide us with any benefit.

I find a little disheartening that this discussion has essentially become, "How can we most efficiently destroy another civilization?" That makes us more like the bad guys in standard sci fi.

Further, people only want territory they can use. Colonization of the New World was based on the possibility of trade. Modern day territorial disputes are often oil fields. What are you going to do with territory on Mars? If you change the situation from planets in a solar system to countries...

Too bad we can't have a Death Star...

This made me think that some of this already happens on an international level. There's a language barrier that slows the effect (an interplanetary language barrier would be interesting...) but this is isn't entirely dissimilar from a opposite-sides-of-the-world scenario.