To go where no man has gone before. That has always been the quest of man for a millennium. Whether it was to find new worlds in search of spices and gold, or to search the depths of the oceans for the lost continent of Atlantis, or to dream of traversing the cosmos and exploring new galaxies, the need for man to explore has been insatiable.
With recent discoveries of more and more planets in the solar system and beyond, the hope of first contact with an alien species may soon be brought into reality. One can only imagine that first meeting of two distinctly different intelligent species. The hope is that it is a meeting of peace and goodwill, not a meeting of eminent destruction of one over the other. As mankind attempts to conceptualize that fateful day there is one question that might deserve a bit more contemplation.
If interstellar space travel is proven possible by the arrival of an alien species on earth, will mankind be advanced enough to prove worthy of first contact? When alien visitors arrive will they know who is the dominant species on this planet? This may seem a ridiculous, but if and alien visitor were to look at earth at first glance what would he see?
The species of man, or human, would appear to have the upper hand with an intelligence exhibited through his creations of massive cities, waterways, modes of transportation and social behavior. Upon a second look, an outside visitor would also see massive acts of destruction and warfare among the humans while the lesser beasts of the world seemed to live more peacefully among each other. Lesser animals do show distinctive social behavior not unlike that of humans and unique methods of communication amongst themselves. These animals kill to survive and not for the mere act of killing.
So, who would an alien visitor favor of first contact? An argument might be that such intelligent creatures probably went through the same social problems that we as humans experience every day. These include hunger, war, murder and genocide. But, what if somehow they managed to advance as a species without undergoing such a tragic upbringing? If these visitors have had no such experience then would they not shun first contact with the human species?
Perhaps man and humankind need to go where no man has gone before to a world of social harmony leaving behind a past of intense social disruption and chaos. If mankind were to go there first, then maybe, maybe mankind would be prepared, not only to accept new visitors, but to visit beyond seeking out new species in many forms throughout the universe. To go somewhere is easy, but to go prepared might require a bit more training and preparation.