Reasons why an advanced alien species might uplift the human species

Question

What are the practical reasons advanced for sapient aliens to want to uplift our species to a higher level of intelligence or sapience?

This question is a reaction to this one. Reasons an advanced alien race might want to share technology with humanity? Because that question dealt with technology transfer rather uplifting in its original sense, and as coined by David Brin, of raising the intelligence level of a species to a higher one.

Think of raising the sapience of a sheep dog to that of a human being. The advanced aliens are offering to uplift humans by a similar amount. Why would they do it?

Answer 1

Reasons for the uplift:

• Communication is difficult. We are simply too stupid for them to communicate with us fully, and some factions don't believe it is fair to take from our planet without an uplift. Likely they will have a "Jane Goodall" type figure who insists that we are intelligent enough to communicate with and insists that we be uplifted so that deals can be made or that resources shouldn't be taken at all.
• They think of us as pets They have limited communication with us and think it would just be the best if we could talk as they do. Sort of a "if dogs could talk situation." Because communication is always measured by the species looking at it.
• Pure Science They'll want to do it because they can, because they want to see the results and/or because they've done everything else, and the development of a species is exciting.
• The way we think is unique Our method of thinking can advance them, if only we were a little more advanced ourselves. Whether they need it to fight an enemy or advance their society, they see a potential that they need.
• Because without an uplift they fear war They believe that we will wage war on them because we are not smart enough to see the bigger picture. They hope that the added intelligence will keep the peace.
• They need us for a war They may or may not be warlike, but they are facing a foe which threatens them, and us. We cannot even use their tech because we are not smart enough to do so. They need viable allies and cannon fodder, so they lift us up. They may have even brought the war to our doorstep on purpose so that we would agree.
• They pity us. They think of us as children with access to nukes. The uplift is fairly easy for them to accomplish and they want to help.
• They are paying it forward. For whatever reason, they were uplifted by another race, and because it is part of their culture, they wish to do the same. For years they have searched, and found that we would benefit the most and it's easiest to do with their tech. In a twist, they can be US, but seeded in another galaxy by another race, and uplifted. We were the control group...
• The uplift is a sinister method of control It's a kind of Trojan horse. A gift that also allows them to kill whoever needs culling or control the population in some way.
• The uplift is actually an organism It's some kind of parasite or somesuch which wishes to be spread over the entire galaxy. They'd rather we agree. The host race's entire thing is to spread it as far as possible. Benefits outweigh the costs, so they would want us to agree. Could create a hive-mind or ability to process info at a much faster rate.
• They only eat beings of a certain intelligence At our current intelligence, we are not sustenance for them. But with just a little more, we are now a delicious source of psychic energy. Like farming, but... more dangerous.
• Genetics Activate their tech Their tech can only be run by people with a certain genetic marker. They stole the tech from an ancient civilization (or rediscovered it) and they have the marker which allows them to use the tech. Side effect of making you smarter.
• Breeding They have suffered population loss. They have a lot of tech, we have a larger population and a base of genetics. It's simply faster for them to change our genetics so that they can interbreed with us, than it would be for them to build up from scratch. Has the effect of uplifting humanity. It's not how they normally reproduce, but desperate times call for desperate measures. They will offer tech, advancement, and uplift in exchange for keeping them from dying out. If truly desperate, they may not give us any choice in the matter.
• As a retirement planThese aliens age differently than us, and concurrently. They are all getting old and know they will soon die. They wish to have uplifted caretakers at the end, and they want a legacy to live beyond them.
• As part of the puzzle of the universe What's the answer to life, the universe and everything? These aliens don't know yet, but they know where to find it. They've found ancient clues that lead them to believe various races at various stages of development will hold a piece of the puzzle. If we are lucky, this will result in an uplift. If we are not, it's back to the stone age for us. For extra pathos, we get uplifted and then they figure out the next piece is Cro-mag man--and we get a major downgrade.
• To build the ultimate intelligence These aliens value creative and intelligent thinking above all else (this is a variation on the way we think is unique) and they wish to build the ultimate intelligence. The only way to do that is to uplift various species and then experiment on them, to find out what makes their thought patterns unique, and then work to combine them into a sort of uber intelligence. Most of the population will simply enjoy the uplift. But a few would be marked for experimentation. Chances that these very smart lab rats will escape are high and could lead to adventure.
• Belief in their own superiority/making copies of themselves These aliens believe that they are the very pinnacle of intelligence and genetics. All advanced races should be as they are. When they find a sufficiently advanced civilization, they make them better, by making them like the alien race. They would not ask. People are more intelligent, but are no longer human.
• To Call Forth Into the Void In the My Teacher is An Alien series, I do recall an individual being uplifted in order to eventually serve as a kind of radio transmitter in order to contact the alien's people. In this case, the aliens need a whole planet of uplifted people to transmit into the void, where their true masters lie. Initial trials will just reveal an uplift, because a larger population is needed for the effect/transmission to take hold. (As to what the message is when they call--it could be anything: "we tire of this world and immortality, come and kill us please." or "Dinner is served." (We being the dinner) or "Please rescue us from this backward dimension." With the first and last, the aliens would disappear, leaving us with a headache, many questions, and perhaps a permanent uplift.
• Because the uplift is contagious Any species they come in contact with that has the correct set of genetics will be uplifted. It's a function of their alien biology. As such, they are very careful about who they actually meet outside of hazmat suits. Either it stops with us, or we gain the same trait of passing the uplift on automatically. It's possible that most species they uplift don't "pass it on" so they may be surprised that we can. In this way, it would take just one or a few of us being uplifted, and it may spread over the planet like a virus. Finding out that we can spread it as well, once they accidently expose a few of us and isolate those individuals before it goes planet-wide, may lead them to want to offer it, because we are more like them than anyone they've encountered.
• Mars needs moms/dads They have children in abundance in cycles, but don't have enough individuals to care properly for their children. Automation is cold--they wish to have living caretakers for their children. We have a large population, but we are too primitive to take care care of their offspring. They offer an upgrade so that they can have us care for them in the next cycle.
• Real Estate/Profit That's right, I said real estate. These aliens are terraformers bent on making a profit. They'd like to terraform planets nearby (in another solar system) and eventually our solar system. The problem is, the neighborhood is just terrible. All these primitive humans right next door. They offer the uplift so that the property values the next solar system over will make it worthwhile for them and they can sell it to the intellectual elitist aliens. And, they figure that once we get the uplift, we'll want to be customers. This assumes a very busy universe full of customers and other aliens.

Answer 2

Because accepting the uplift also carries the obligation to offer to uplift others under the same terms. It’s a viral licence.

The whole thing is a plan to get evolved intelligences, which are generally warlike, irrational in large groups, and spamming the galactic communications, to “grow up” and make the galaxy safe for all.

Uplift isn’t just smarter as in able to solve more problems, but rational and better able to play nice with others.

Answer 3

Similar to Rory's answer, I asked myself "Would I uplift my dog?" - Yes "Would I uplift ants?" - Yes. But why?

And the answer really is because I could, and just to see what would happen. What would making ants smarter do to their society? We are a species who are very interested in exploring the unknown and learning new things about other species, because it tells us a little more about ourselves. I would suggest that the alien species have this same impulse.

Answer 4

This looks somewhat related to the anthill theory. But where the alien race would like to lift the "ants" or humans to a level where they could communicate with us.

Why would they do that? Beside being the good guys and being ok with it as Z.Schroeder suggested in his question, they might actually need us.

If the race would be something like eg. predators that uses artifact weapons they looted from other races, but are unable to produce their own. They might need our creative thinking, pattern recognition and ingenuity to help them produce new weapons for their hunts.

A friend of mine told me that the mage in an RPG would buy the largest armor and sharpest steel, and give it to the warrior, because he would need his allegiance and strength to protect the meek body of the spell caster, while he is casting spells. If the aliens are fighting someone else, they might need meat shields capable and stupid enough to fight for almost any reason (humans).

Just two of a large amount of possible reasons.

Answer 5

It happened by accident

My initial thought was build ship that is indestructible by a dog, so I did it by building the ship with grey goo. By coincidence this made the ship indestructible to meteors - but it's pure coincidence.

Afterwards it was so good, I decided to entertain my dogs, as I have an opportunity to play with goo, which makes the dogs' existence entertaining on the ship. It also was entertaining to devise new entertainments for them, by playing with grey goo.

Now 10k years later, the descendants of the alpha dog demands I not slurp when I eat. Probably I should skipped that space dog scout game, find the alien game, dog hive mind game, find a bone in a planet game - hm do not recall them all but they were fun times.

Answer 6

Because They Have Reached a Plateau

Imagine for a moment that you are part of an ancient and extraordinarily long-lived super intelligent race. You mastered all realms of physics/mathematics/chemistry/biology (etc) to the best of your knowledge over a thousand years ago. For centuries now you have existed with deep curiosity (the trait that allowed you to reach this point), but very little is left to interest you.

At some point in your intergalactic travels you come across the human species. They are more advanced than the non-sentient creatures you have found recently, and you can see that they too are curious and always working towards their own self-interest. There are also billions of them.

An idea sparks! Your species has not been able to think of any new challenges or unravel any new secrets, and frankly your existence has become soul-sucking and empty. You will therefore uplift human intelligence, providing twofold benefits:

1. Perhaps they will think of something you haven't Your biology, culture, and experiences long ago became stale, and it is logical to think that another group with a different set may be able to open new avenues for exploration that you had not considered.

2. It is something to do. When you have mastered the secrets of the universe and are bored, something is better than nothing.

And if you want a twist... Even though you gave them a lot more potential, you still installed a planet-destroying bomb in the planet's core and are preventing them from creating anything that could interfere with it or that would allow them to leave the planet. Technology be darned, you DO have them surrounded and can monitor them from space after all. If it all works out, great - let them live. If they're not helpful... well, you'll get a fireworks show before you cruise off to the next solar system.

Answer 7

As you're well aware minister, the galaxy is 99% filled with spectacularly peaceful civilizations, who long ago in their evolutionary development realised that co-operation was the best way of achieving success not just for the individual, but also the collective. This lead not to just highly co-operative groups of single species, but planets with highly symbiotic lifeforms, with everything from the largest organism down to the smallest bacteria working together for the common good of all life on the planet.

These civilizations never fought an aggressive war in their entire histories, from stepping out the primordial ooze to reaching the stars and beyond. They only wars they've ever fought were defensive ones against the other 0.999% of the galaxy who were primarily made up of poor, desperate and struggling species battling to survive on border worlds at the edge of their respective solar systems Goldilocks zone. Once it was discovered that these wars were mostly about getting just enough food to survive another cycle, the civilized aliens simply started dropping food aid by the ton, the fighting ended pretty quickly, and negotiations on peace and integration began.

The only problem with this 99.999% peaceful utopia of a galaxy, is planet N3752-4A which is recorded in most galactic records as existing in a highly radioactive system of little significance. In reality it a highly habitable Gaia class planet ripe for colonization, called by its inhabitants "Earth".

However due to some form of cosmic evolutionary mishap, all life on the planet is either systematically attempting to kill all other life on the planet, or is so desperate to survive another day on the uninhabitable piece of rock that they live in perpetual hiding and fear of all other life on the planet making co-operation impossible.

Not to even mention the incredibly predatory bacteria and viruses. Compared to bacteria noted throughout the galaxy these killers prompted entire new fields of study into things the locals call "Infections" and "Plagues", which are frankly too disgusting to detail fully in polite conversation, however we'll provide the relevant details to your scientists on request.

The most developed species on the planet appears to have regular wars (We currently put the total in the thousands) with itself for sport, and some of the bigger ones even have sequels. They're currently in the process of developing a super weapon capable of destroying all life on the planet via the steady mass production of carbon dioxide with the intended goal of destroying the planets ecosystem. Major concerns have me noted that the species is currently in an early space age, and that they likely intend to leave the planet for places unknown once they've finished killing off the others. The chief researcher on site even went so far to hypothesize that they may attempt to "Infect" the rest of the galaxy like a "Plague".

We feel it might be in the Galactic interest to accelerate the planets evolution to the point were its inhabitants are capable of co-operation before intervention becomes impossible.

Answer 8

Because however advanced they are, they still feel like the universe is a humongous, empty and cold sad place, and it's a low cost for them to uplift us and get the help of 8 billion new wet computers in their existential quest to make the universe less senseless

Answer 9

Uplift is an economic harvesting technique. Our planet has many wonderful things which the aliens want. Our history, our culture, our art and our literature are all worth a fortune on the galactic market.

But it is illegal to trade with immature species. Much like our own laws which make contracts signed by children invalid, the galaxy sees trade with non-upgraded species as potentially exploitative, therefore illegal.

They uplift us so that they can invite us into their economy.

Answer 10

Many humans would, if it were at all possible, uplift their cats and dogs. Because they love them and care for them, and would like to be able to communicate more fully - to have them as more of a companion.

I know I'd like my cat to be much smarter - so she could understand me when I ask her not to bring me more "presents"...

So would aliens want to uplift us because they care for us, or are annoyed by us being stupid enough to make a mess of our world? Maybe.

Answer 11

Childhood's End by Arthur C Clark posits and interesting notion: that uplifting is how they reproduce. By elevating humanity to their non-corporeal state, they add our potential to their own.

There is another series where uplifting is basically what races do to get prestige and power in the galactic community. No species would let any one other species get too powerful, so a compromise is to uplift a species that serves you until they grow up enough to negotiate or fight their way free of you. For the life of me I can't remember what the series is called, but in it humans had uplifted apes and dolphins. The book I read was about a crew of humans, dolphins, and one ape that crashed on an ocean world.

Answer 12

In A Deepness in the Sky, the alien culture--in its current state--wasn't useful to the humans in orbit around their world.

Answer 13

Religion

Why every one thinks advance aliens as non-believer species? They could have a religious duty to share the wisdom and technology with other races. In the end, they will ask us to believe in what they believe and with their gifts, we might just say yes.

Bring light to those who have none.
Bring wisdom to the fool for you have some.
Bestow them the intellect that is given to you,
So that they would understand the Collective Sun.

Answer 14

Imagine you had traversed the know universe, then the unknown universe, then made a pit stop in the "kind of known but not that well" universe when your super advanced star ship, full of massively intellectual comrades, stumbles upon a signal coming from the third mud ball adjacent to a tiny star.

You decide to investigate. It takes a few days to decipher the language and over the course of the next few weeks you begin to realise that there are people who actually want Donald Trump to be president. After several discussions and debates you have decided that blowing the planet out of existence for this lack of intellect isn't quite the legacy you want to leave behind. The only option left would be to make the people more intelligent so they have a chance at realising how stupid they were to let themselves get so close to extinction.

Of course there is always that one person on a star ship of this kind that believes Donald Trump should also be uplifted, naturally leading to the construction of a wall around the milky way that your advanced race now has to pay for!

Answer 15

Because all life that clings to the notion of exploration or even building advanced star ships that can travel light years of distance has something in common. It's safe to assume that on some basic level we must have something in common, such as the want or need to know something.

Helping us would in turn help them, unless their agenda is different. Then they could simply avoid us altogether or take us out with a Deathstar - whichever works.

I don't think the spirituality factor works on a stellar scale, a species so advanced would have transcended the principles of words and thoughts. To them the idea of spiritual reasoning would seem just as alien as the resounding choirs of church and space baptisms.

Answer 16

Spirituality. They believe in a natural progression of all sapient beings towards an ultimate level. Humans are on a lower-to-middle level right now - quite intelligent, but obviously with much room for improvement (just look at all the wars, crime, greed,...). Part of the uplifting would be an immanent wisdom to end wars and poverty, and a deep understanding of the natural progression of sapient beings. Freed from these burdens and equipped with far more powerful minds, earth would join the other advanced species on their journey to the ultimate level, uplifting others species as well when they are found.

Answer 17

Have you tried recruiting decent engineers lately? In order to maintain the technology of a galactic empire, you need lots of engineers. Uplift a species sufficiently and you won't run out of new talent.

Answer 18

Same reason you build schools in third world countries.

Empathy.

For just pennies a day you can help earthlings free themselves from the ravages of poverty, war, and daytime talk shows.

Or maybe they just want us to live long enough to see how Game of Thrones ends.

Answer 19

Don't ever give kalashnikovs to monkeys. It would be very funny, I know, but what if they chase you down to hell?

Every civilization should have evolved from basic forms of lifes and competition is the essential way to push evolution forward. Those aliens should be smart enough to not raise our technological level up to where we could pose a threat.

Someone above has mentioned a "proxy war strategy". I like that idea.