I keep wanting to say that aliens have alien motives - a seriously advanced civilization may have no more "compassion" for humans than we do for bacteria, especially when we are using a sponge with anti-bacterial soap to clean our kitchen counters. Bacteria are clearly alive, after all, and they do possess some form of rudimentary intelligence, but that doesn't stop us from getting rid of them when they interfere with our own interests, by the quadrillions and beyond each and every day.

But since I also think that all intelligent life had to at least have a start somewhere as biological creatures - and with that comes the prerequisite behaviors and emotions required for survival in a biological wilderness, which includes compassion at the least for other members of your immediate social group, for sheer survival if nothing else - then they might still retain some measure of compassion for anything that is recognized (we hope) as intelligent or at least has the potential to become a serious part of the higher cosmic existence.

I read the above again and realize that while it is a possible motive, it is also a fair degree of wishful thinking on my part - that the higher beings will come and help us poor little annoying talking monkeys with car keys learn how to get along with each other and become good Galactic Citizens. But why? For pure compassion? These advanced ETI sound more like gods living in another dimension than material beings in our galaxy.

I do not like seeing aliens get turned into our current replacement for deities and religion, and I do not say this out of concern for having any current human religion being diminished.

Humanity did not really begin to grow as a species and culture until at least some of its members started putting away their superstitions and myths and started finding out what the world is really like, and through our own efforts, not the cosmic equivalent of Mommy and Daddy holding our hands.

My theory: The Universe and certainly the Milky Way galaxy is not quite so big or so ancient to beings we look at as having very long societial lives and extensive stellar territories. And since it now seems that within "just" a matter of billions of years the Universe will either spread itself into oblivion or literally rip apart at the cosmic seams, beings who have lived for ages and plan on sticking around for eons more will want to do what is necessary to either keep our celestial neighborhood intact or move on to a new one, assuming other universes exist, are unoccupied but still livable, or they can make their own custom model.

If these advanced ETI decide to stick around here and the galaxy requires major reconstruction to stay healthy and useful, how "compassionate" will they be for the inhabitants of Sol 3 if requiring the materials of our solar system or otherwise pushing us out of the way is a must to ensure their survival? As they said in Contact and even way back in H. G. Wells The War of the Worlds, a construction company putting up a building is not going to worry about an ant colony or rabbit den on the building site. It is not conscious cruelty, just survival of the fittest. And the Universe as a whole will not even blink an eye in recognition of any kind.

When a supernova goes off in a distant galaxy, as happens all the time, how many many astronomers - usually the only ones who even notice such events - even bother to take the time to think about who or what may have been orbiting that star, or lived in nearby systems, or perhaps had a scientific expedition there that didn't get far enough away in time? I can tell you for a fact that I don't think many of them do. I once brought up this very query on a supernova alert list and was essentially told to get lost as it was only a place for posting alerts and data results. True, and also rather cold and dispassionate, but I know, what could a bunch of human scientists stuck on Earth do or care about a bunch of hypothetical aliens millions of light years away who would be long dead by now anyway? But I hope you see my point.

In summation - survival is the ultimate motivation of life, whether you are a bacteria, a talking monkey, or a being who can manipulate whole galaxies. Compassion and reflection are for those who can afford the luxury. And have the motivation to do so.

Thank you for the information on Pearson and his theories. I look forward to reading them. I also appreciate a different perspective on the subject.