OT: A question about the Human Ability to Cope

[Kevin_Raven]

everyone keeps saying that humans are remarkably resilient and have a good ability to adapt to new situations, but really, we don't have any benchmarks to compare the human race to, making it hard to describe any defining characteristics of the human race. Perhaps our adaptability, or some other trait that seems unremarkable to us would be a useful resource for an alien species, or perhaps humans are a thoroughly dull and useless race... at any rate, I'd imagine that it would be a lot easier and more effective for alien civilizations to simply establish trading bases on earth and use it as a resupply area than to wipe out the entire planet and start over. When you consider hideous invading alien monster-race, it's hard to imagine a good motivation for wanting to destroy the earth.