Coexistence with other Intelligent Species

The first and foremost reason for Coexistence is simple: SCIENCE! Although most people at this point and time do not realize this, as a species the advancement of science is essential to the survival of our species. Not just against the enemies within our own species and against other potentially existing civilizations, but first and foremost against nature. In the perspective of an aged civilization a fledgling planet should be considered to have a small window in which it can develop life and find a way to survive outside their original home. Now, maybe some super species may be capable of doing that naturally somewhere way out there, but I'm willing to bet that is not common. Our solar systems revolve about black holes and those black holes revolve about even more massive black holes, and the visible stratification of the Universe just keeps getting bigger. After a civilization escapes their home system and is able to survive the destruction of a planet or solar system, what is the next step to continue ensuring survival? They must find a way to escape the grasp of a Black Hole (Which will likely be a large scientific conundrum once you get to that point). Then, after that, they have to escape the pull of an even bigger black hole, which may have a change in qualitative nature for all we know. And that stratification may very well go on eternally, and even go beyond the boundary of what we consider our universe which we may want to outlive someday. Unless their natural instinct is simply to expand and kill everything that is not them, at least a portion of them will always be seeking the most efficient way to advance for the sake of survival. Even humanity, although people say we dont care about the long term, the vast majority care at least subconsciously and a number of people dedicate themselves to ensuring long term survival. This should also be a kind of survival instinct which most species should have if they can live that long. Now, there comes the question of nature VS nurture from psychology and sociology. As a species, does the nurturing of an individual have a larger influence on the way they think, or does the natural networking of their neural pathways determine how they think from birth? I would say that as a species, the more nurturing is able to change the way they think, the more likely they are to successfully integrate into a collective of species. There are also some features of conflict that may easily change once we step onto the stage of an elder civilization. The stage of war could develop in a multitude of ways, however in my opinion things will trend towards greater and greater disorder over time. There may even be entire planets which act similarly to warring states, where a Federation like existence may rule over them like an emperor, ignoring the squabbles between kings. In fighting is indeed something inevitable, but the scale of the wars may easily fluctuate from small to large. A Federation waging war against powerful solitary races may cause cataclysmic events for countless planets. When the large scale wars occur there would likely be less inner squabbles. In my opinion, overall, large scale rebellions within an elder civilization seems unlikely. Even if you can manage faster than light speed travel and communication, the distances between habitable planets would still be consistently large and take a lot of time. It seems unlikely that singular leaders would exist for any one species once that species is spread among countless cubic lightyears. Even the rebellions on different planets would likely feel disconnected from those on other planets, thus it would be difficult to pull off a significant rallying power for a rebel war. This is where the traits of a species becomes significant. In an elder civilization the species itself must trend towards a specific behavior specifically for them to form any semblance of organized behavior. So, for us to successfully integrate with and form a collective there must be an overall trend in our species where our nature pushes us to follow the nurture method suitable for forming a Federation. If we even so much as have 51% of our population that actually is nurtured properly, then when that quantity spreads over a countless distance then that side can already suppress the other. Considering that 51% has the backing of a Federation as well, it is easy to see which side would win assuming no 3rd party steps in. Just that amount should already be enough for a species to be of benefit to a collective. The suppressive effect on the other 49% becomes greater once your planets are mixed together or surrounded with the planets of other federation type species. Of course, if that percentage is greater naturally that would be better. But the percentage should also increase due to that suppressive effect and also due to simple increase in exposure. As over time the culture of Humanity would become steeped in the nature of a collective federation. Of course, enslavement is also a possibility, but unless it is by a solitary long lasting species we will eventually make a comeback In regards to resources.. honestly, I think that's the thing that would be concerned about the least in an elder civilization. There are countless lifeless oceans of Water out there, planets made of diamond, stars filled with energy, planets filled with breathable air. The only time resources might become a concern is when a species or collective of species stagnates in a single solar system for an very extended period of time. At that time, the war would still be less about resources and more like a claim to ancestral lands or ideals. While resources may be used as the excuse for war, it would be an excuse as the level of technology should be able to circumvent such issues. Otherwise, if a collective were to grow to a point where they are occupying virtually all usable systems surrounding their local black hole, and they still can't escape. Then that's when there would be a big problem. Huge wars would likely break out, with larger species trying their best to devour the smaller ones and smaller ones desperately gathering to resist the larger ones. As for the wildcard species which would attack and are unaccepting of our ways, of course we will fight them if it is something we cannot possibly change ourselves. And there will be political squabbles between those who collaborate to fight them. Regardless of whether that is just us, or us and a collective. To the last point, in my personal opinion, there is absolutely no reason to think it's necessary to have a singular nation ruling a species for it to be considered stable. If a species were able to have such a thing it would indicate they are a species which heavily lean towards a natural mindset. So it would be a disqualifying factor. Overall though, for short term, if we are exposed to an elder civilization hopefully we can swiftly catch up after receiving exposure. Then at that point scientific exchange and some limited mix in social structures could be greatly beneficial. In the long term, I think it's inevitable that Humanity will split apart with parts of it forming isolated states. Due to a portion of Humanity remaining in the federation those isolationist may easily be treated as though they are just an honorable internal argument. Not something worth waging war over at the federation level. Most parts however would be combining or forming a Federation based around collecting those that emulate our own natural tendencies.