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Talk:Extraterrestrial life (view source)
Revision as of 17:43, April 16, 2007
, 17:43, April 16, 2007→An extraterrestrial nation-state
:Nothing like that figures in, for example, former President [[Jimmy Carter|Carter]]'s speculations. And I doubt that an anarchy could, or would even want to, achieve anything like what [[Francis Crick]] played around with back in 1973, let alone the kind of full-blown invasion force illustrated, say, in ''The War of the Worlds'' or the ''V'' series of [[television]] projects.--[[User:TerryH|TerryH]]<sup>[[User talk:TerryH|Talk]]</sup> 13:05, 16 April 2007 (EDT)
:Nothing like that figures in, for example, former President [[Jimmy Carter|Carter]]'s speculations. And I doubt that an anarchy could, or would even want to, achieve anything like what [[Francis Crick]] played around with back in 1973, let alone the kind of full-blown invasion force illustrated, say, in ''The War of the Worlds'' or the ''V'' series of [[television]] projects.--[[User:TerryH|TerryH]]<sup>[[User talk:TerryH|Talk]]</sup> 13:05, 16 April 2007 (EDT)
::I think the point is, why is 'Nation-State' used over and over again in the article? That is simply one particular form of government, and assuming that any alien civilization would adopt it is making quite a leap. Such social organizations should probably be referred to as simply 'civilizations'. [[User:Brewer13210|Brewer13210]] 13:13, 16 April 2007 (EDT)
::I think the point is, why is 'Nation-State' used over and over again in the article? That is simply one particular form of government, and assuming that any alien civilization would adopt it is making quite a leap. Such social organizations should probably be referred to as simply 'civilizations'. [[User:Brewer13210|Brewer13210]] 13:13, 16 April 2007 (EDT)
:::A civilization can and often does consist of more than one nation-state. The term ''nation-state'' has specific political and, more to the point, military meaning. True enough, most civilizations in the ancient world ''were'' identifiable with the nation-states that ran them. But I suggest that the term "Western civilization" refers to many, many nation-states, and indeed to a history that saw many of its member nation-states rise and fall. I use the term to go all the way back to ancient [[Greece]], then to ancient [[Rome]], then to the various kingdoms of [[Europe]] and, of course, the [[United States of America]].
:::In sum, "civilization" includes a full body of literary and artistic tradition, in addition to political tradition. Any civilization can have any number of nation-states regarded as part of it, so long as they all derive their governing models from a common source.
:::And before anyone asks: yes, I, for one, would like to see the logo changed to something better reflective of a common civilizing tradition than of ''one'' nation-state that ''happens'' to be the most powerful militarily of all nation-states that belong to "Western civilization." Those traditions are far older than the United States--indeed, they informed the founding of the United States--and I am not ashamed to own them.--[[User:TerryH|TerryH]]<sup>[[User talk:TerryH|Talk]]</sup> 13:43, 16 April 2007 (EDT)