[President_Elect_Shang]

Before I break into my questions let me say I agree with you completely. I didn't get my degree in Anthropology because it was a soft degree. It may be and I won't argue that; I got it because I love humans. Point blank! I love the things we build, the mistakes we make, the joys we share. I love to understand why we want to walk across the grass when there is a perfectly smooth concrete walkway. And I have tolerated my share of bigotry. Twelve years of being married to a black woman has made for some very *ahem* interesting moments. Anyway now that I have made that clear I have to ask (it's the Anthro guy in me):

Being human means extending our understanding; and yes even our emotions, to other creatures. For example the love we feel a pet. Does your cat really feel love or are you extending your love onto it? So if part of being a human is that ability to extend wouldn't your ideas be anti-human? Don't extend human understanding to the aliens just wipe them out right now. The lions and the sharks pose a threat to us. People are injured by how many shark attacks per year? More than one? Why don't we wipe out the sharks? They have no resemblance to humans and saying they share a common origin hasn't stopped us before. What about the other hominids we may have wiped out? All the Mega Fauna which may have been in decline but clearly dropped off after modern humans arrived. As humans shouldn't we at least try to extend one hand in peace even if we are keeping the other on "the button"? Otherwise won't we become the very aliens you speak of exterminating?