@Angle I'm convinced that from nature's perspective multicellular life is more or less a weird accident that it mostly views as a mistake to try abd destroy every so often

@IrisKalmia Eh, I dunno. If anything, I'd say it views it as a very fortunate mistake to run with as far as possible and see where it goes. :/

@Angle
The universe is full of life. Life in the universe functions on two axioms: 1. Life's goal is to survive, and 2. Resources are finite. Like hunters in a dark forest, life can never be certain of alien life's true intentions. The extreme distance between stars creates an insurmountable "chain of suspicion" where any two civilizations cannot communicate well enough to relieve mistrust, making conflict inevitable. (1)

@Angle
Therefore, it is in every civilization's best interest to preemptively strike and destroy any developing civilization before it can become a threat, but without revealing their own location, thus solving the Fermi paradox.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Dark_Forest

(2)

@Angle all moral discrimination is a dualism of the conscious mind. Only sentient agents are blessed/cursed with thinking things might be other than they are.

I'm not quite sure how something can be described as exploitative with out the involvement of a sentient agent.

@Angle I would say.. to a degree, yes. Most life is not self aware as we though...

A bacteria or for that matter a virus or even protozoans.. All lifeforms works kinda through Maslow's hierarchy of needs. Most will never leave the first step. If our needs never are fulfilled we will be equally "exploitative" until we are. Biology and environment play a big part in us too.

Also.. don't forget about mushrooms and their ability to live in symbiosis. ;)

@Angle I'm inclined to Sir Terry's interpretation: https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/66591-all-right-said-susan-i-m-not-stupid-you-re-saying-humans

@Angle one wonders what natural life could conceivably come into existence without depending on reproduction as a means of permanence

a barely-living amino acid is fleeting at best and one wonders how an immortal space whale could be born without some prior effort of ancestors or creators