Page 45 - An Evening with Maxwell's Daemons

Pluripotentates

“I think you should start from the fact that the pluripotentates
are, in fact, the rightful owners of their territory,” Hydrargyrum
said. “I can grant that the humans are motivated to find a new place
in the cosmos to set up shop. Further, that confrontation by life
forms capable of demanding the return of one of their own, and
creating a tit-for-tat negotiation with the invaders, means that the
people involved—scientists as well as those in a military chain of
command—must consider their antagonists as intelligent. And,
going a step beyond that, to admit that they were about to murder
one of them. Thus, from a practical point of view as well as any
moral imperative, the invaders should exchange hostages and enter
into discussions aimed at establishing a modus vivendi. Win-win,
particularly if we have something useful for them, and the concept
of trade is within their comprehension.”
“An outbreak of rationality among the humans?” Izzy Azimuth
was incredulous. “That’s more fantastic than a trip across lightyears.
Since when have humans learned to ‘play and share with others’—
the old kindergarten graduation requirement? You would need
someone on that ship with higher authority than the captain, a
philosopher or ethicist. If you wanted a satire, it could be a
missionary—usually sent in right after the conquistadores—to
subdue the heathens with promises of salvation.”
Fred broke in: “Izzy, we don’t criticize anyone else’s suggestions
here; at least not explicitly. A peaceful settlement with aliens able to
defend themselves is not utterly impossible. And therefore it falls
into the scientific part of science fiction, rather than being pure
fantasy. But even if it were, to many people, laughable, I think the
story could have many interesting aspects if Brad developed
Hydrargyrum’s line of reasoning.”
“All right,” said Azimuth. “I’m sorry. Must have hit a nerve.”
Leith Mauker had the final word, following an awkward silence.
“It seems to me that Brad, in creating a plausible explanation for
the existence of a dominant pluripotent species, has given us a very
good reason for the humans to pack it in and leave: the repeated
planetary scourges of catastrophic volcanism. The indigenous
adapted life-form could survive the next one, just as they did the

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