Of Men and Spiders

Scott wanted to pound his forehead into the table in frustration but decided that would not be a good look for humanity's first representative of an alien species. "No, listen, the computer is not a person or a being. It's not intelligent or able to 'think' on its own. It 'thinks' only that which we tell it to, and no more. Even then, it's not thinking. It's just performing millions of mathematical computations per second in a way we've created to simulate thought."

Fiz, who'd either reformed a new body or already had one prepared, didn't look convinced. "But you already showed your math to us. It is a combination of quantitative expressions represented using the symbols you call 'numbers' to calculate. This computer clearly uses the symbols you call 'letters' and 'words' to respond to questions you input using the same. You ask a question, and it responds!"

Scott sighed and resisted the urge just to give up. "Listen, all those answers it's giving me were given to it by humans. Our computers store that information, and trillions of other bits of information, into a large database. Then, when we query the database, it finds the relevant information and produces it as it was originally given. It doesn't actually understand any of the information it has or the questions we ask. It's just a simple but condensed collection of information. That's all!"

Even Dotty seemed to be having difficulty grasping the concept. "But if it doesn't think, how does it know what answers to give you?"

Scott thought about it a minute before answering. "Well, let's look at the 'appendages' you're speaking to me through. They all can speak, right? They have all the necessary internal and external components required to vibrate the air in a manner that can convey your thoughts and ideas, correct?"

As usual, Fiz was losing sight of the forest for the trees. "Only in the most limited definition of the sense, but yes."

Scott resisted the urge to roll his eyes. "Okay, but if you were to extract your consciousness from that appendage, could it speak?"

Fiz seemed to think the question was stupid. "Of course not! Without our consciousness, these appendages are empty shells!"

Scott pointed to the computer. "It's pretty much the same principle with this. If I were to stop interacting with it, it wouldn't have any thoughts or feelings; it would become an empty shell. The only reason it contains more than that is our interactions with it. In a sense, when I type a command into the computer, it's the same as you exerting your control over your appendages. Now, let's take it to the next step. You all have nodes that act as storage devices for your knowledge, right? If you extract your consciousness from those, would the information disappear?"

Dotty seemed interested in the thought experiment. "Well, not at first. But over time, it would die off as it would be unable to sustain itself without our consciousness."

Scott nodded, finally feeling like he was getting somewhere. "Okay, so for a while, that information would remain in storage. But without your consciousness to guide and direct it, would the node understand any of the information it contains? Without you, would it be able to access or utilize the information it contains in any way?"

Fiz shook her head. "Of course not! It's hard to express in this limited form of communication, but it's nothing more than a sack of organic material without our consciousness."

Scott pointed to the computer. "And that's more or less the same. We don't have as intimate a connection with it as you do with your nodes, but what we lack in direct connection, we make up for with a universal connection. Any human, anywhere, can connect to a database they are authorized to and can access all the information stored inside, regardless of who put it there to begin with! In fact, more than one person can access it at a time. There could be thousands, millions, or even billions of people looking at it all at once. It's a very efficient way to share information with any number of people over vast stretches of space."

Fiz narrowed her gaze. "I'm not sure the trade-off is worthwhile. Whenever we find something worth sharing, it is simple enough to gather together to share it, but the greater access to information means each of us is far more than any human."

Scott nodded. "I won't deny that the vast majority of your people know far more than even the most intelligent humans, unaided. We cannot expand our minds at will, and our lives are impossibly short compared with your own. However, there are also far far more humans than there are of you. We have quite a few planets whose populations are measured in the billions, and trying to gather everyone together to share information would be impossible. Setting aside the logistics of trying to gather that many people in one place, we can't all just walk away and put the things we're responsible for on hold. For us, ease of access is more important than a direct connection. And besides, while no one human may know as much as one of you, we're still out here amongst the stars, traveling and learning more about the universe we live in, struggling and growing as a people, just like you. All that and more is possible because of how readily and easily we can share and receive information as a whole rather than as an individual."

Dotty seemed to be following along as she nodded in agreement. "Yes, I can see how this is a very clever way to overcome your people's challenges and shortcomings. It's quite admirable in many ways!"

Of course, Fiz had to provide a counterpoint. "But I don't see how this is enough to warrant us accepting you as our equals. If anything, it only shows how weak and frail you all are without your tools. And quite frankly, we could just take those from you."

Seeing how he wasn't getting anywhere with the more...belligerent representatives, Scott decided it was time to take a different approach. "Yes, without our tools, we are weak and vulnerable. Right now, any one of you would easily overpower and kill me as an individual who is standing before you without weapons or armor. However, humanity possesses tools; the only way you'll take them from us is through war. A long, bloody, expensive war that would leave countless dead on both sides. We might die in the thousands to kill one of you but united, we can field warships in the millions and warriors in the billions. All armed with armor and weapons that would trivialize what I've already shown you. You'd rapidly evolve to fight us, and we'd rapidly develop new technology, new tools, to fight you. No matter how it ended, both our civilizations would be devastated, and it wouldn't end until one side eliminated the other. Quite frankly, I'm not confident who would be left standing at the end."

Scott let that sink in for a moment but continued before certain representatives could formulate a reply. "Alternatively, we can work together. Maybe we'd get the better end of the deal, or perhaps you would, but I think it's clear that we'd both benefit. You from the introduction of tools and their use, and humans through your understanding of genetics and your raw intelligence. But first, we'll all have to set aside our pride and fears and start talking. Not just you six to me but your entire species to humanity."

After another moment, Scott added one final thought. "Finally, I'd like to point something out. The fact that our two species discovered each other means one thing. It will happen again. If this galaxy created two space-faring civilizations so close to one another, it's a near certainty there are more. Maybe the next group we meet won't be interested in talking like this. Maybe they'll go straight to war. Who knows what challenges this galaxy, this universe, still has in store for both our species'? But let me ask you this. Would you rather face the unknowable challenges waiting in the future alone...or with a friend at your side?"