FROM JAMES POWELL AND RICHARD TUNA
TO JILL TARTER, NASA/SETI
JULY 14, 1987

WE ARE IN RECEIPT OF YOUR LETTER FROM DR. WELLS, AND AS YOU KNOW WE HAVE NEVER ADVOCATED DESTROYING OTHER INTELLIGENT SPECIES. WE HAVE SIMPLY SUGGESTED THAT SUCH DESTRUCTION MAY BE HOW THE REST OF THE UNIVERSE WORKS, AND HOW IT MAY BE LIKELY TO RESPOND TO US. WELLS HAS OBVIOUSLY BOUGHT INTO THE VIEW OF A FRIENDLY GALAXY. THIS VIEW IS BASED UPON THE ARGUMENT THAT UNLESS WE HUMANS CONQUER OUR SELF-DESTRUCTIVE WARLIKE TENDENCIES, WE WILL WIPE OUT OUR SPECIES AND NO LONGER BE A THREAT TO EXTRASOLAR CIVILIZATIONS. ALL WELL AND GOOD UP TO THIS POINT. BUT THEN THESE OPTIMISTS MAKE THE JUMP: IF WE ARE WISE ENOUGH TO SURVIVE AND NOT WIPE OURSELVES OUT, WE WILL BE PEACEFUL—SO PEACEFUL THAT WE WILL NOT WIPE ANYBODY ELSE OUT, AND AS WE ARE BELOW ON EARTH, SO OTHER PEOPLES WILL BE ABOVE. THIS IS A NON SEQUITUR, BECAUSE THERE IS NO GUARANTEE THAT ONE FOLLOWS THE OTHER, AND FOR A VERY IMPORTANT REASON: “THEY” ARE NOT PART OF OUR SPECIES.

BEFORE WE PROCEED ANY FURTHER, TRY THE FOLLOWING THOUGHT EXPERIMENT: WATCH THE FILMS PLATOON AND ALIENS TOGETHER AND ASK YOURSELF IF THE PLOT LINES DON’T QUICKLY BLUR AND BECOME INDISTINGUISHABLE. YOU’LL RECALL THAT IN VIETNAM, AMERICAN TROOPS WERE TAUGHT TO REGARD THE ENEMY AS “CHARLIE” OR “GOOK,” DEHUMANIZING WORDS THAT MADE “THEM” EASIER TO KILL. IN LIKE MANNER, THE BRITISH, SPANISH, AND FRENCH CONQUESTS OF THE DISCOVERY PERIOD WERE MADE EASIER BY DECLARING DARK-OR RED-OR YELLOW-SKINNED PEOPLE AS SOMETHING LESS THAN HUMAN, AS A GODLESS, FACELESS “THEM,” AS LITERALLY ANOTHER SPECIES.

PRESUMABLY THERE IS SOME SORT OF INHIBITION AGAINST KILLING OTHER MEMBERS OF OUR OWN SPECIES, BECAUSE WE HAVE TO WORK TO OVERCOME IT. OTHERWISE, IN THE MODERN WORLD, MOST OF US WOULD COMMIT MURDER, OR HAVE IT COMMITTED AGAINST US, AND THE COURT HEARINGS THAT ACCOMPANY MURDERS WOULD NEVER BECOME FRONT PAGE NEWS BECAUSE MURDER WOULD NOT BE AT ALL UNUSUAL (ONE WONDERS IF IT WOULD EVEN BE ILLEGAL). INDEED, THIS INHIBITION AGAINST KILLING OUR OWN KIND CAN NOW BE SEEN IN THE GROWING RELUCTANCE EVEN TO PUT SERIAL KILLERS TO DEATH. THE INHIBITION IS NOT TOTAL, BUT IT IS THERE, AND IT HAD TO BE THERE OR OUR ALERT AND AGGRESSIVE SPECIES WOULD HAVE KILLED ITSELF OFF AGES AGO.

MURDER IS AN ABERRATION OF HUMAN BEHAVIOR, NOT THE NORM. WE OPERATE UNDER THE SAME RULES AS WOLVES, WHICH HAVE CERTAIN DEEP-ROOTED INHIBITIONS AGAINST KILLING (AND ESPECIALLY EATING) OTHER WOLVES. BUT THE RULES DO NOT APPLY TO OTHER SPECIES. BOTH HUMANS AND WOLVES LACK INHIBITIONS AGAINST KILLING CHICKENS.

HUMANS KILL OTHER SPECIES ALL THE TIME, EVEN THOSE WITH WHICH WE SHARE THE COMMON BOND OF HIGH INTELLIGENCE. AS YOU READ THIS, HUNDREDS OF DOLPHINS ARE BEING KILLED BY TUNA FISHERMEN AND DRIFT NEUTERS. THE KILLING GOES ON AND ON, AND DOLPHINS ARE NOT EVEN A THREAT TO US.