Many people seem to have the idea that if Earth were visited by aliens then all of humanity would set aside its petty differences and unite as one people.
I've recently decided that's not very likely. I think what is more likely is that humanity would fracture into myriads of different groups all interpreting the aliens as different things, and war and strife might be even more prevalent than it is now. I don't think this is just because of religion's crazed hold on people's minds, but because it is simply in the nature of people to refuse to accept change.
I believe an examination of historical instances where one culture encounters another bears this out. Although western society has usually been on the dominating or "discovering" side of such cultural meetings, I think it is just as likely to act as say the Chinese did when confronted with outside influences. The society split into different factions, some trying to maintain old world values, and others embracing the new culture.
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As non-Western societies begin to modernize, they also often attempt to adopt many elements of Western culture. One hundred years ago, for instance, some people in both Japan and China were arguing that, if their countries were going to modernize, they would have to abandon their own languages and adopt English or German.
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http://acc6.its.brooklyn.cuny.edu/~p.../chinhist.html
That groups still espousing such values still exist supports the view that cultural differences cannot be sorted out within a few decades or generations, but it is an inherent characteristic of humanity that there will always be internal conflict.
I think there are other examples of one society fracturing into pro and anti foreign elements throughout history. America still deals with the problem of "illegal aliens" to this day. Now, probably were real aliens to visit us it is unlikely they would be looking for sub-minimum wage jobs in southern california, but is there any doubt that groups opposed to contact with aliens would form? The aliens might not share our family values, or they might be vegetarians, whatever the issue, I think it is likely that humanity's fear of the unknown and reluctance to progress as a groups would lead to war and strife.