Economic problems with interstellar commerce
A paper from political scientist John Hickman, published in the journal Astropolitics, seeks to establish whether it would be possible to conduct commerce and trade over lightspeed-lagged interstellar distances. This has already been explored in science fiction (Karl Schroeder does a particularly fine job with his idea of the "Rights Society" in Permanence, a book with more fizzingly cool ideas per page than 98 percent of the sf ever published):
Economic exchange itself might be "alien" to the aliens. Members of an alien species may not experience the same intense sense of self that is exhibited in rationally self-interested economic exchange among humans. Instead, a collective identity could be dominant. Money might not exist and without it neither would complex markets or banking. If they do engage in economic exchange it might take a form akin to potlatch, the competitive gift-giving for status solely among members of the same tribe traditional among societies in Melanesia and the Pacific Northwest. Moreover an alien species might not live in separate societies and could thus have no conception of trade between different societies with different cultures.Link (via Kottke)
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Given the probable role of sexual selection in the evolution of specifically human, machine-building intelligence on Earth, it is not at all clear how a species that is so highly kin-selected and genetically homogeneous that it doesn't participate in any form of trade would ever evolve intelligence. Nor is it clear how a species could become that homogeneous and kin-selected by natural means after it became intelligent. Artificial imposition of homogeneity obviously would not suppress the tendency to trade, so it would have to be the result of natural selection.
It is also not clear how a species that never accumulated capital would develop the industrial infrastructure necessary to build interstellar communications systems, which appear to be quite capital intensive.
It is overwhelmingly probable that any species capable of building the machines required to engage in interstellar communication will also be a species that trades, so if we can talk to aliens at all, we will be able to trade with them. The ones who don't trade will never be heard from.
Economic exchange also would probably be alien to them because when a space faring culture meets one that is not they are in a position to easily and completely destroy the non-spacefaring one by throwing a bunch of rocks at their planet. I'd imagine the exchange being more like a shopping list being delivered, followed by the systematic destruction of population centers until the requests are met. This is how most human cultures interacted when one had a (seemingly) unassailable technological edge over the other.
It is also not clear how a species that never accumulated capital would develop the industrial infrastructure necessary to build interstellar communications systems, which appear to be quite capital intensive.
Hive?
it'll turn out to be something unexpected. Pornography?
There are plenty of cultures on Earth for whom economic exchange is an alien concept. Our usual solution has been to send missionaries to infect them with smallpox and napalm the survivors. Works just fine so far so why stop now?
What? You mean there aren't any Ferengi in space? Absurd.
"Money might not exist and without it neither would complex markets or banking." Communists! It seems to me that the more advanced the technology the more likely the society is to be structured as socialist or communist.
Rudy Rucker had a story along those lines (I forget which one, White Light?) where a multi-generation colony ship meets arrives on a human colonized planet that has gone... sort of techno communist. The resulting interaction is interesting though I'm not sure how realistic it was.
That's the most likely scenario. I doubt we will meet any aliens for a very long time. I think they are out there, just fairly scattered and not likely to find each other or us.
"Does your package contain anything hazardous, liquid, fragile or perishable? Does it contain anything which mutates, evolves, decays or breeds rapidly, such that the package contents on arrival may differ significantly from the contents as described on the customs declaration? Does it contain pornography, dark or degenerate matter, fissionable materials, microscopic black holes, technological information not cleared for transmission to class 3 civilizations, living energy beings, mind parasites or weakly-godlike entities?"
The Galactic TSA...............
I read a book called Marrow, by Robert Reed, and it really looked at the trade and cultural exchange on board a ship that was traveling with light speed restrictions.
Am I the only one reading this who thought first of Frank Herbert's Dune? The feudal economies, CHOAM syndicate, and reliance on melange for interplanetary travel (and thus trade) is rather significant context of the story.
I guess we will be limited to trading AIs. That's why no one talks to us, we haven't developed good enough trade goods yet.
I've got options in self sealing stem bolts
Are they stolen?
I think the genetic homogeneity of humans is why we are so willing to trade, and the genetic homogeneity of celles in the body is why they are willing to trade as amulticellular organism. Trading is very uncommon in other species on earth, and when such symbiotic mutualism does occur, it takes a long period of evolutionary development for it to work. Coral reef fish go get cleaned at filter stations only because they are genetically programmed to not eat those specific cleaner species.
If we met aliens on spaceships, I hope our planet is uninhabitable for them and we serve them no value, like a penguin meeting an antelope. Otherwise it will mean trouble for somebody. Knowing our history, most likely them.
for those who may not have watched this, do.
http://www.nikon.co.jp/main/eng/feelnikon/discovery/universcale/nano.swf
In 1978 Paul Krugman (economist, NY Times Columnist) wrote a similar paper called The Theory of Interstellar Trade
Just came across this thread and surprised noone mentioned one of my favourite wackos, juan posadas, former secretary for Argentina in the fourth international and later founder of the Fourth International [Posadian].
from wikipedia:
Beginning in 1968, Posadas also became known for his theories concerning UFOs. He believed that the existence of UFOs demonstrated the existence of socialism on other planets and that only a socialist society could produce the technology needed for interplanetary travel. Moreover, he argued that as the occupants of UFOs (who were either socialists from other planets or socialists from a future earth travelling back in time) were advanced communists they should be urged to help lead the terrestrial socialist revolution.
In his pamphlet Les Soucoupes Volantes, le processus de la matiere et de l'energie, la science et le socialisme (Flying Saucers, the process of matter and energy, science and socialism) Posadas speculated that the reason UFOs do not stay very long is because “Capitalism doesn’t interest the UFO pilots, which is why they do not return. Similarly, the Soviet bureaucracy (doesn’t interest them) as they don’t have perspective.” His work ends by pleading that "“We must call upon beings from other planets when they come to intervene, to collaborate with the inhabitants of the Earth to overcome misery. We must launch a call on them to use their resources to help us.”
God bless, you alien or future earth commies.