An old Sci fi classic which Eumaios reminded me of, The Mote in God’s Eye by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle.
Among the many themes of the book:
- All civilizations collapse, with a subsequent loss of technology. Dark ages are not reserved to primitive cultures and are part of the cycle of society.
- Despite the dream of contacting alien life, if it ever happens, there will (not may) be conflict over resources, even an infinite seeming universe is not infinite and one species or the other will get subjugated.
- That in any closed system at some point there is too much competition among alphas (this is not the term they used) which leads to destruction.
- That humanity’s fluidness of role, while in some ways is a strength, is also a limiting factor. The aliens in the book have strict, biological castes, the role you are born into, is the role you fulfill and they are better at it.
- There is an acceptance that even if “someone” is not a monster, they can still be an enemy and for the survival of the human species total annihilation (genocide) of another group may be necessary. (I can just imagine people these days arguing that the alien culture is just as valuable as our own, and welcoming our own extinction).
