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Alien Non-Interference Clause: Difference between revisions
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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.
It's mainly for this reason that [[Science Fiction]] writers came up with the concept of the '''Alien Non-Interference Clause''': in the future, it is believed, people will have learned from the mistakes of the past and take steps from preventing the same mistakes from recurring as humans explore space.
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?
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{{examples}}
==
* From [[Marvel Comics]]: The Watchers have an "observe, don't interfere" law in place (thus their species' [[Planet of Hats|name]]). Eventually revealed to be the result of accidentally destroying another species by giving its members advanced scientific knowledge way too soon. Uatu, the Watcher assigned to Earth, is notorious for breaking this clause, as he made the mistake of [[Screw the Rules, I'm Doing What's Right| getting too fond of the inhabitants of the world he was told to watch.]] Naturally, the Watchers do not get along well with the Celestials, who do nothing ''but'' interfere with mortals.
** It is eventually revealed that both the Watchers and Celestials, as well as [[Horde of Alien Locusts|the Horde]] (whom ''both'' the Watchers and Celestials despise) are servants of a godlike being called the Fulcrum, who uses them to maintain the balance of the universe; the Celestials create life, The Horde destroys life and the Watchers record it all.
* 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
** 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 ==
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* By ''[[The Lord of the Rings]]'', the Valar could be said to have taken up a style of this similar to the Ellimist and Crayak: They tried to fight [[Big Bad|Morgoth]] directly, and the results were [[The Silmarillion|not pretty for Arda]].
* [[Elizabeth Moon]]'s ''[[Remnant Population]]'' has "The People", [[Starfish Aliens]] who until events in the book, unwittingly share their planet with human colonists. After some humans try to land new colony ships on their nests (and get killed for it), they seek out and find Ofelia, the [[I Choose to Stay|willing last human]] of a failed colony hundreds of miles away, who kept the colony's tech running for her own use. Unaware of the non-interference rule (which exists even though humans have never met another intelligent species, as they made many assumptions about what aliens will be like), Ofelia has to show and explain things like electricity to The People, initially so their curiosity doesn't kill them with a high voltage current. But it turns out The People are ''extremely'' intelligent and hungry for knowledge, to the surprise of all and the chagrin of the human officials and scientists who get sent to "undo the damage" (some with good but misinformed intentions and some crossing the line into "keeping the humans in charge").
* Much of the [[Strugatsky Brothers]]' [[Noon Universe]] novels revolve around various aspects of an
** ''[[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.
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* In [[Ursula K. Le Guin|Ursula Le Guin]]'s Hainish Cycle, first contact teams are often sent to rather primitive planets, and many such civilizations are incorporated in the [[The Federation|interstellar civilization]] - since it believes that even [[Space Amish|non technological races]] have a lot to contribute (arts or philosophy). However, there is an embargo on teaching technology without authorization by the government. The ''Planet of Exile'' demonstrates the point when a human is wounded by an enemy dart, and must be careful, since while the natives use no poisons, the Earth [[Lost Colony]] does, and the used darts are sometimes fired back.
* In the [[Star Trek]] novel ''Uhura's Song'' orders given directly to Kirk by the Federation President and the Commander of Starfleet. To emphasize (to both the readers and the characters) the severity of the situation (a plague that is threatening to cause the collapse of the Federation and kill a large portion of the population of multiple species), the President gives the following statement:
{{quote|
** That almost-casual statement is the President telling Kirk that the PRIME DIRECTIVE IS GONE.
* ''[[Enchantress From the Stars]]'' talks quite a bit about the implications of this trope. Short version: it's worth it in the very, very long run, but ''damn'' does it suck in the short run.
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== Live-Action TV ==
* ''[[Star Trek]]'' is the [[Trope Codifier]]: whether or not they did it first, they're the one most people have likely heard about. The series has been [[Continuity Snarl|somewhat inconsistent]] over where the borders of the rule lie. There is usually a hole somewhere "big enough to fly the ''Enterprise'' through". [[Star Trek: The Original Series|The Original Series]], at the very least, typically bypassed the Prime Directive by placing the ship and/or the crew in dire peril, with the only solution being one that would devastate/completely change the local society (see "[[Star Trek/Recap/S2
** One ''[[Star Trek: The Next Generation|Next Generation]]'' episode, "First Contact" (no relation to [[Star Trek: First Contact|the movie]]) deals with the justified aspects of the Prime Directive. The ''Enterprise'' crew are on a secret [[First Contact]] mission to the Malcorians, a species on the verge of discovering [[Warp Drive]]. Over wine with the planetary Chancellor, Picard discusses with him the justifications of the Prime Directive and their obligation to leave the Malcorians alone if that is their wish. The Malcorians, who mirror 20th century humans in many ways, are undergoing cultural turmoil because of their rapid march of technology. Meanwhile, Riker was doing covert surveillance when he was injured and hospitalized: it becomes [[Human Outside, Alien Inside|difficult to hide the fact that he's not one of them]] and he almost dies because the distrustful minister of security tries to use him to convince the Chancellor not to trust the humans. Because of this, Chancelor Durken ultimately decides that his people are not ready to learn they're not alone, though he promises to spend money and effort on education so they'll be prepared when the time comes.
** In some instances, though, there have been [[Sufficiently Advanced Alien
** And then there are the time when they do finally feel justified in breaking the rule such as in the TOS episode where it is discovered that the Klingons have been arming one of the tribes of a primitive planet. Kirk feels its their obligation to offer the competing tribe a similar level of weaponry to defend themselves. In this case, its more of an extension of the existing Cold War metaphor the Klingon-Federation conflict already represented.
** By the time of ''[[Star Trek: The Next Generation|The Next Generation]]'', the Prime Directive has been interpreted to prohibit interference in the internal affairs of other cultures even if the culture is an advanced star-faring civilization. This came up during the brief Klingon civil war where the Federation was unable to get involved until they could prove that the Romulans were secretly instigating the conflict to weaken their enemies and/or install more friendly leadership. (Some have more cynically suggested that this is not so much a principle as a convenient excuse.)
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** Epsilon III was declared off limits to all (episode "A Voice In The Wilderness") because the technology of the giant computer contained there would give any one race that got it an unfair advantage.
** After the Vorlons had left the galaxy, a number of people attempted to travel to Vorlon to lay claim to the advanced technology there; all of them got shot down. Lyta explains that humanity was not presently meant to have Vorlon technology and won't be for about a million years.
** On the other hand, in the ''[[Crusade]]'' spin-off series, Captain Matthew Gideon would launch a full spread of modified probes (uploaded with considerable information about Earth and the Interstellar alliance) at a pre-hyperspace planet at the end of ''Visitors From Down the Street'', which abounds in ''[[The X-Files|X-Files]]'' [[Shout-Out|references]]. The ''Excalibur'' picked up two agents from an alien world who are looking for proof of a government cover-up. They show pictures of Mount Rushmore and old Earth blimps. They also dress in Earth fashions from 200 years go (ie: from the time period at the time of the show's shoot). One of them can ''[[Aliens Speaking English|speak English]]'' because of information stolen from the conspirators. [[The Reveal]]: Years before, the government had found itself in a time of social unrest similar to [[The Sixties]]. Upon discovering Earth broadcasts, they used them as part of a truly [[Magnificent Bastard|Magnificent]] conspiracy; manufacture appropriate "evidence", then dispatch [[The Men in Black]] to suppress it. The resultant subculture of [[Conspiracy Theorist
** One minor race that embraced the idea was featured in a single episode, and everyone they met reacted with abject horror at their callousness. Other than using the word "inferior" instead of "less advanced" it was basically the original Prime Directive.
** The Interstellar Alliance has rules about not monkeying about with the cultural and internal affairs of its members, but it also has a Declaration of Principles that all of those members have to sign, so we can be fairly certain none of them have anything really obnoxious in their culture (like killing people for stepping in the wrong field).
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** In addition, in one episode Stargate Command discovered an asteroid on a collision course with Earth. They asked the Asgard for help, but the Asgard refused on the grounds that their treaty with the Goa'uld prohibited averting natural disasters. When SG-1 proved that the asteroid had been sent ''by'' the Goa'uld, the Asgard immediately provided help.
** There's also the Ancients, who turn out to have [[Ascend to a Higher Plane of Existence|Ascended]] long ago. Where ''[[Star Trek]]'''s Prime Directive draws the line at the invention of [[Faster-Than-Light Travel]], ''these'' guys won't interfere with those who are still corporeal. Unfortunately, this also extends to (1) what's done with all the supertech they left behind when they Ascended, and (2) allowing evil by fellow ascended individuals, such as Anubis and the Ori. If as an Ancient, ''you'' try to stop the bad guys from abusing Ancient tech, or even ''try to prevent a half-ascended [[Evil Overlord]] ''(whose idea was it to make frakkin' ''Anubis'' a candidate for ascension, anyway? No, really, who?)'' from razing a whole planet,'' you ''will'' find yourself kickbanned right back to corporeality. There's a reason the [[Neglectful Precursors]] page has ''an entire section devoted to these guys alone.'' Daniel only allowed himself to be ascended to the Ancients' level because he thought he could do more good among them, and is human again now because, well... he was wrong.
** Of course, the real reason the Ancients are such [[Neglectful Precursors]] are because the power we see on the rare occasions they cut loose means they are capable of solving the plot in ten seconds flat. The Ascended Prime Directive is how the writers got out of painting themselves into the corner with finally revealing who the Ancients are (presumably, when all we knew about them was "once upon a time, someone built awesome tech, and then the Goa'uld ganked it," the writers ''didn't'' have in mind a race that was ''nigh-omnipotent and still present.'') They could [[Stargate SG-1|finish the Goa'uld]], [[Stargate Atlantis|deal with the Wraith and the Asurans]], and [[Stargate Universe|bring the crew of the
** In ''[[Stargate Atlantis]]'' a coalition of various Pegasus Galaxy civilisations ''wish'' that Humanity had one of these. They capture the Atlantis team to put [[Humanity on Trial]] over the sheer amount of death and destruction that has occurred ever since they showed up.
* In ''[[Doctor Who]]'', the Time Lords adopted an official policy of neutrality and non-interference, acting only as observers save in cases of great injustice, after granting advanced technology to the Minyans who then destroyed themselves in a series of nuclear wars. Which is not to say they always adhered to it...
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== Video Games ==
* The Pangalactic Federation of ''[[Star Ocean]]'' has the Undeveloped Planet Preservation Pact, which differs from the Star Trek version in that people don't get in as much trouble if they break out the advanced tech to save their own lives.
* While none of the civilizations of the ''[[Mass Effect]]'' verse have such a rule, salarian scientist Mordin Solus holds the view that there '''should''' be one, citing the fiasco with the [[Proud Warrior Race Guy|Krogan]] as an example of why.<ref>
** We learn in ''[[Mass Effect 2]]'''s Lair of the Shadow Broker DLC that when new pre-spaceflight races are discovered, the Citadel sends "First Contact Teams" to their home planets to begin sharing technology, updating translators and explaining Citadel laws and culture to the newly discovered species, preparing them to join the galactic scene. Then they ran into the Yahg, a species even more brutal than the Krogan, who massacred the first contact team. This led to the Council 'blockading' the planet, preventing anyone getting off it - {{spoiler|well, almost anyone.}} So while they don't hold a general rule requiring it, they do seem to adopt this policy on a case-by-case basis.
** This forms part of the backstory before the game. The Turians first discovered humanity tinkering with an uncharted Mass Effect relay, trying to turn it on and were forced to intervene because doing so is [[Serious Business|a major faux-pas]] in the Mass Effect universe.<ref>
*** Of course, instead of contacting the humans and explaining what was going on (how were pre-contact humanity ''supposed'' to know an unknown Galactic Law prevents them from tinkering with the relays?), the Turians chose to attack them instead. This started a 3 month long conflict called the First Contact War by humans and [[Insistent Terminology|Relay 314 Incident]] by the Turians, which was only ended when the Council was finally was alerted to the situation. The Council were naturally ''[[What the Hell, Hero?|furious]]'' to find out that the Turians had performed a pre-emptive strike on an unknown species ''without'' getting authorisation.
** The Geth enforce this on themselves as they believe all species should self-determinate.
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== Webcomics ==
* In ''[[Spacetrawler]]'' "Dark Planets" home to sapient life with no significant space presence are not supposed to be contacted. The system is still ripe for exploitation: species can be declared non-sapient for spurious reasons like ''bad fashion sense'', and species who do achieve space travel immediately become fair game for any other species to conquer.
* ''[[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|''"[[
* Defeated in ''[[Schlock Mercenary]]'' [http://www.schlockmercenary.com/2002-02-05 here].
** According to RPG materials, the Fobott'r (Andy's species - burly, [[Multi-Armed and Dangerous|four handed]] humanoids with bright crests) had their planet taken over by corporations basically for beads and mirrors. Of course, then those corporations began to hire the locals as security staff and after a while... let's just say, they have their planet back.
== 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.
* In ''[[Superman: The Animated Series]]'', Mr. Mxyzptlk's species had something like this; in his second appearance, the rulers of his dimension put him on trial for "meddling with an under-evolved species" (along with violating dimensional travel laws, and worst of all, not keeping his word, which is apparently a serious crime there). As punishment, he was banished to Earth's dimension (without his powers) and required to do a good deeds for the inhabitants for one dimensional cycle (three Earth months). Superman ordered him to perform this "community service" on Bizarro World.
== Real Life ==
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{{reflist}}
[[Category:Alien Tropes]]
[[Category:Alien Non-Interference Clause]]
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