this post was submitted on 02 Aug 2023
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Politics
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I would expect that we'd attempt to observe them as much as possible before interfering with them directly in order to avoid a disaster.
There's a big difference between seeing some weird looking stuff on Neptune that's ambiguous at best and seeing a planet whose night side is lit up like a Christmas tree. Casual observation of our planet from anywhere remotely nearby makes it very obvious that it's inhabited by a technologically advanced species.
Idiotic as the guy in charge of them may be, we have a massive satellite network blanketing the globe at this point. There's no way that gets missed by any species capable of interstellar travel unless it's something capable of space travel without the accompanying technological advancement we associate with escaping a gravity well and surviving the vacuum, then having the means to cross the immense distances involved to get to even the closest stars.
Major metropolitan areas look incredibly distinct from the surrounding wilderness, and all the lights are a dead giveaway.
If you manage to fly all the way from another solar system to come take a look at Earth, you definitely know that it and especially its cities contain complex life. Any showing off will likely be intentional if it's from anything more complex than something like the Voyager.