Why is Humanity considered primitive?

Everyone has their own vision of an ideal future. Humanity must seem painfully backwards compared to such utopian visions. There's been a strong strain of thought among the UFO community ever since the contactee movement that the aliens must live in some kind of an utopian society.

There's awful little to compare us to though. We will always fall short of someone's vision of what an advanced species should or could be but we might be more advanced, or compassionate or reasonable than a lot of us would like to think. There could be way older sentient species somewhere out there. It could also be that 99% of species which achieve nuclear technology utterly destroy themselves with it. We could be one of the rare few who have so far made it.

I myself think that most likely a civilization which is technological advanced enough will either merge with their technology or get overthrown by it. A singularity type of scenario. I feel like the allure of the nearly infinite power that a singularity scenario would bring could be difficult to resist unless the species was very radicaly culturaly or psychologicaly different from humans. And if they were they might never get off the stage of banging two sticks together. As it has been said here before conflict breeds technological advance. Conflict also breeds the necessity for more power which technology brings. It could be that once a civilization achieves certain level of technology they kind of open a pandora's box of ever tighter pursuit of more power and advance. Before long they've achieved a level of development that renders themselves as species completely redundant and their technology goes to live on by itself.

A non-organic civilization would be extremely far removed from organic lifeforms. We might lament for a good reason over the damage we inflict to our biosphere but a civilization of machines best suited to live in the cold vacuum of space could view organic lifeforms as nothing but irritating pollutants to be gotten rid of. From a scientific-technological viewpoint such a civilization would be extremely advanced. But from a social-moral viewpoint such a civilization would seem almost incomprehensible or monstrous and not something many of us would call advanced.


It's all pure speculation at this point.

originally posted by: Thecakeisalie
Many scientists don't rate us well as a species. They focus on what we haven't achieved instead of what we've achieved, Theoretical physicists like Michio Kaku are adamant that we are so far behind that alien civilizations would see us as a bunch of hairy, grunting bipeds who still bang rocks together so we can watch TMZ. The problem is these advanced civilizations are yet to be found, which could make the Kardeshev scale an inaccurate measurement of just how far we've come.

Regardless of what we achieved, the fact is there are many nukes and firearms on this planet, VXgas, other biological weaponry, it's not how problems are solved. It might appear that way, but there is a reason why it's taboo to converse with spirits or the afterlife, or to explore it since problems go there and remain largely unsolved because each generation faces more problems in the afterlife, more of a taboo especially with more people leaving Church and other religions, turning to psychiatry, talking a lot about all kinds of solutions but never making that great turn where psychiatry for example would think all humans are mentally sound until proven otherwise instead of using people for money and research.

Then there is another very obvious problem to some but 'accepted' positively by the majority. All in all we (at least the West and many other countries) most look very strange, if not stupid/dumb/unintelligent or of low intelligence. We could have a party everyday yet we have rich and poor, intelligent (university) and dumb (dropouts/low level education), mentally healthy people and unhealthy people. A better civilization would not even have police since it creates thieves and murderers, it would not have doctors because it would create patients and people would even create accidents for themselves, we just have less insight and less control over ourselves and find it difficult to imagine how it could all be different after so many centuries of doing it wrong.

Immortality was once considered a divine power that was only bestowed on the deities that many people worship.

Everybody would want immortality but it's just not going to happen. The universe simply isn't big enough, even if it is infinite and with parallel universes. Other life on other planets would also want to expand forever. Immortality would be all alone in one's own existence, then finding a partner of the opposite sex, have their existences merged and then they could have 'divine' children who could do the same, except marry ofcourse which would be with another divine couples' children. But never in this existence because of space issues (as in territory). There wouldn't be enough, especially with other life also wanting territory. Warfare is not an option, it would not lead to a harmonious coexistence and only lesser (finite) civilizations live in disharmony.

a reply to: Thecakeisalie

The idea that we are so much less than aliens is dangerous and misguided. I comes from the modern idea that the only advancement is in terms of science. It is not. It may turn out that in terms of art, music, religion, spirituality, consciousness, culture etc we are far more advanced then they are. From what I can see the aliens are sorely lacking in spirituality. They are emotionally retarded and even fear human emotions. We are the ones who are advanced and have a lot to teach the aliens.

It is wrong to put humanity down and compare us to biological 'slime' on an insignificant rock in the cosmos, as one writer put it. This is an insult and gives the aliens power over us by making us seem inferior. We should assert ourselves and ask the aliens to account for themselves and prove themselves in moral and spiritual terms.

No one is their own best judge. We as a species have no idea of we would compare to other species. What do we have to compare? A highly idealistic vision of an advanced race with literally zero problems. Nothing is perfect, so I imagine why people would think we're an arbitrarily terrible race, it's imperfect vs perfect. In real terms, even if other races are arbitrarily better, were they always that way? And are we always doomed to stay as "terrible" as we are? Things are always moving forward and considering we're but a race that has barely achieved civilisation for more than a few thousand years and are constantly striving for self-improvement to better our state of affairs, I hardly think we give ourselves enough credit. Things are perfect, bad things happen. But our desire as a species to amend this is what I think is the real deciding factor on whether or not we're a "good" or "bad" race. And are we? Well, I can't judge on that one can I?

originally posted by: EnPassant

. We should assert ourselves and ask the aliens to account for themselves and prove themselves in moral and spiritual terms.

What a fantastic idea!! Of course you have a plan and a way to contact them right?

originally posted by: BuzzyWigs

Corporations have destroyed our world, and continue to wreak havoc on it every. single. hour. of. every. single. day.

There is a lot wrong in the world but it certainly isn't destroyed. The world, as far as nature goes, is doing quite well. We are fortunate that nature is so resilient that even as filthy and destructive we humans are, I can still breathe oxygen and enjoy natural beauty around me.

Corporations are made up of people and what you can say is wrong about them says what is wrong with the human race. We're tribal and somewhere in our DNA we're wired to fight for our space at any cost or die. The same goes for competition in commerce. It can be ruthless and brutal.

Maybe, as humans live longer, some of the basic instincts go away. Maybe when we live to be 200 years old, there won't be any testosterone left in the body and that ancient DNA wiring will have unraveled. it will be survival of the intelligent rather than the fittest.

originally posted by: olaru12

originally posted by: EnPassant

. We should assert ourselves and ask the aliens to account for themselves and prove themselves in moral and spiritual terms.

What a fantastic idea!! Of course you have a plan and a way to contact them right?

There is no need to contact them. If we have that mind set they will hear it.

a reply to: LogicalGraphitti

Maybe, as humans live longer, some of the basic instincts go away. Maybe when we live to be 200 years old, there won't be any testosterone left in the body and that ancient DNA wiring will have unraveled. it will be survival of the intelligent rather than the fittest.

You make a very very good point.
Thanks for your response!