We didn't have time to discuss it in class, but I wanted to raise an important issue that nobody else seemed to consider in staffing their expeditions. Is it important for us to stock our ship with a racially and sexually diverse staff?
It makes sense to me that the team we send isn't only important in its capacity to keep themselves alive and interface with the aliens; they are equally important in the impression they give of us as a species. Are you comfortable, then, with the idea of the aliens imagining us as a bunch of white guys?
Your first instinct is to say "well, whoever is the most skilled at each necessary position." A fair argument, but what if you have two people who would be equally suited to the task, only one is white, and the other black? Do you follow the path of fairness - deciding randomly - or make the choice that better represents our diversity (and out identity) as a species?
Same goes for male-female; in the book, Voelker (eternal scum as he is portrayed) claims that the greatest mistake was in sending women along on the mission. Would you be too worried about the possible relationships that could develop and harm the mission, or the possibility of pregnancy? Or would you rather represent our species properly, as sexually dimorphic but otherwise, ceteris parabus, equals?
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You raise an interesting point, but I suspect in a practical sense it's likely to not be an issue. Any international body which would take on this mission would almost certainly send an international team consisting of a variety of different people. I believe your comment applies only to missions which would be sent by an individual country or small group (like a group of Jesuits). I doubt the Chinese would send anyone non-ethnically Chinese, much as I doubt that in actuality the Jesuits would send any non-Jesuits (and therefore no women).
But if no country chooses to send a woman (or a man; I shouldn't be so male-centric about this), we shouldn't sweat it? Or maybe we only need to sweat it if somebody DOES break the mold and try to mix it up gender-wise! Ahh!
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