onevoyager

Thanks for your response.

I wonder if it's possible that intelligent life is so rare in the universe that there is only one other civilization, which could be sadistic.

Would it be possible for you to expand more on how aliens from other universes can help "via complex acausal trade and indexical uncertainty"? I tried searching for those terms, but couldn't find anything about other universes.

Are you referring to multiple cultures that evolve alongside each other as part of the same civilization?

Your point about the economic principle is good.

Thanks for sharing the article.

I didn't read anything about the probability of outcome--are you referring to a comment?

This is a great point.

I considered this possibility when I was writing my post. However, it's possible that the sadistic aliens would be capable of making our planet invisible to others, or that the benevolent aliens never travel close enough to Earth to be aware of us.

Thanks for your response.

I do take evolutionary pressures into consideration in the list of reasons why this scenario is unlikely. I state that "highly intelligent aliens may be more likely to have evolved to be kind toward others." However, it's also possible that aliens "(or a group or an individual) have evolved to feel sadistic pleasure when they harm others who don't belong to their group."

Aliens who are excellent at cooperating with others may not necessarily be kind toward those who belong to out-groups. Lack of empathy or even sadism toward those who belong to other groups could possibly be selected for.

Additionally, there is the possibility that one individual alien or a group of aliens are sadistic.

Your point about resources is good. However, a highly technologically advanced civilization may have advanced to the point that they are no longer concerned about conserving resources. They may be able to generate energy with resources from many planets.

Thanks for your response.

The reason why I'm concerned about this scenario is because this would be the worst possible outcome for anyone, in my opinion. The other possibilities wouldn't cause as much suffering.