Alex McColgan

And so, it's possible that aliens developed the same way.

If they did, how might they behave towards the universe at large?

While they might still be aggressive to outsiders initially, ultimately, they may have attempted to take this to the next level, embracing new alien races as brothers and sisters, part of a great galactic whole.

It's just a continuation of the trend.

With potentially millions of years of history drilling the dangers of violence into them, they may actually abhor fighting, and there may be millions of aliens of many different races all cooperating peacefully under one banner.

then why don't we see them?

Well, perhaps they prefer to let us learn our own historical lessons about the value of cooperation before speaking to us.

An aggressive race would not benefit the galactic community as a whole, so until we learn to get along, advanced alien races might not want to share with us their ideas and technology, particularly if such toys could then be used as weapons.

Perhaps they believe that we will either figure out how to get along, or else we'll wipe ourselves out.

Either way, in the meantime, it is better they stay hands-off.

As any parent will tell you, sometimes telling a child something is not enough for a lesson to sink in.

Sometimes experience is the only effective teacher.

There might be a galactic community out there just waiting to welcome us.

violence, indifference, benevolence.

In theory, any of these or all of these in some combination might be the reasons we don't hear from alien life.

Ultimately, we would be wise to tread carefully.

Meeting alien civilizations might sound exciting, but it would inevitably come with terrible risks.

And possibly fantastic rewards.

Is it worth the gamble?

Looking up to the stars on a bitingly clear night, a horizon away from the nearest town, you'll feel alone.