Alien Non-Interference Clause: Difference between revisions

Even without ever having met a real culture from outer space, mankind has experienced firsthand the sort of disaster that can come from [[First Contact]] between a technologically-advanced society and a technologically-primitive and/or culturally-different one. Case in point: much of the European age of exploration and colonization included a great deal of war, exploitation, cultural assimilation (both forced and not) and even genocide across Asia, Africa, Australia and the Americas, including cultures that, according to modern research, may have been more advanced than we once believed.

 

 

Of course, like the original Prime Directive, such rules are ultimately an [[Obstructive Code of Conduct]] that brings conflict to a story. Crash landing on an inhabited world when this rule is in force brings obvious difficulties. Trying to study an alien culture without being discovered is a popular scenario. And where do you draw the line? Is there a point where a species is officially "mature" enough to let them in on the secrets of the universe? Does non-interference mean you're morally obliged to let a species suffer or die because it is their "natural development"? And what will happen when the "protectees" do develop [[Warp Drive|advanced]] [[Wave Motion Gun|technology]] and discover that alien races have been watching them [[Dying Like Animals]] for generations... and consider themselves pretty darn righteous for their policy of non-assistance? There's also the little matter of how one defines a culture's "normal evolution" or "healthful development"; in addition to the aforementioned "letting them all die" aspect, if a society seems happy but social development has "stagnated", does that justify stepping in to nudge them in the right direction, or should you assume that they might possibly be able to do so in their own time?

 

== Comic Books ==

* In the ''[[Buck Godot: Zap Gun for Hire|Buck Godot Zap Gun for Hire]]'' comics, humans are forbidden from interfering with any race not advanced enough for space travel by [[Sufficiently Advanced Alien|Lord Thezmothete]], because [[Mega Corp]]s used to enslave such species.

** Also the Teleporter considered humans to be animals because they couldn't teleport, though he did indeed interfere.

* In ''[[He-Man and the Masters of the Universe]]'', Zodac and other Cosmic Enforcers are tasked with observing all that transpires in the Universe but not interfering except to maintain the balance between good and evil. Because of this on the rare examples when they do interfere they are just as likely to help the bad guys as the heroes.

 

== Films -- Live-Action ==

* Much of the [[Strugatsky Brothers]]' [[Noon Universe]] novels revolve around various aspects of an Alien Non-Interference Clause and its plausibility:

** ''[[Hard to Be A God]]'' investigates how would a human observer fare on a planet stuck in [[The Dung Ages]], while allowed limited intervention at best (for example, he may save a promising scientist deemed heretical by the Inquisition but has no authority to stop the planet from sliding into even further barbarism after a corrupt church gains power).

* Amy Thomson's ''The Color of Distance'' and ''Through Alien Eyes'' have humanity making first contact with a technologically primitive society of froglike aliens called the Tendu. They have little technology, but they do have impressive medical abilities; they can physically modify creatures, including themselves and humans, and heal just about anything. Humanity has to make reparations for burning down an important chunk of rainforest before they knew the Tendu were there, but they can't violate the protocols in doing so, to the Tendu's frustration; they know what humans have and are fascinated by it. When one of the Tendu decides to come to Earth, he responds to some of the doubts by saying that he, too, will abide by the protocols, and not teach humanity anything that it's not ready for.

* Also in ''[[Darkover]]'' by [[Marion Zimmer Bradley]]: The humans have a directive never to interfere in the business of aliens, not even if the conflict seems as meaningless as the question [[Gulliver's Travels|how to open an egg]]. One really wonders who makes such stupid decisions.

* ''[[Quentyn Quinn, Space Ranger]]'' had this [[Deconstructed]] [http://www.rhjunior.com/quentyn-quinn-space-ranger-0029/ here]. That arc got a postscriptum much later - when we see the good captain again, his first words are {{spoiler|''"[[This Is Gonna Suck|Eight million counts of negligent homicide??]]"''}}

* Defeated in ''[[Schlock Mercenary]]'' [http://www.schlockmercenary.com/2002-02-05 here].

 

== Western Animation ==

* Parodied by ''[[Futurama]]'' with Directive B10.8:1 A.K.A. "Brannigan's Law"; the law itself is pretty straight but Brannigan doesn't actually understand it himself, and ends up breaking it at one point.

 

== Real Life ==