Is it possible that there is non-human life somewhere in the universe that has been growing and developing for untold eons? Imagine a society so ancient that the few thousand years of written human history seem like a moment. Is it possible that such life has evolved beyond the need for any type of violent force to maintain order? Through a billion years of ethical and spiritual development, it has arrived at a truly civilized civilization. What would the encounter be like when such a people first come up against humanity as we are today, in our continuous state of international conflict and warfare?
I imagine a scenario where the ancient buffin people attempt to extend their empire of peace into the habitat of humans in the twenty first and twenty-second centuries. As the "half-pint," fleece-covered ambassadors of peace enter our Solar System they risk their own annihilation at the hands of a humanity that just might mistake their extension of friendship for aggression and their pacifism for weakness. How would we deal with the gentle "invaders?" How would you or I deal with a buffin that we mistook for a vicious, alien "critter?"
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