PREFACE

On a spring day in 1951 a spacecraft arrived on Earth carrying an envoy from “the other planets.” The very human-looking alien, Klaatu, bore a message intended for all the peoples of the Earth, a message upon which depends the fate of the planet. Klaatu set out to mingle and learn something of the nature of human aggressiveness, but fearful authorities sought him out and shot him dead. He was, however, resurrected by his formidable giant robot companion, Gort. Finally, and all too briefly, the understandably annoyed Klaatu addressed a hastily gathered audience of intellectuals. 

Earth, he said, had begun experimenting with atomic power and space travel. If humans continued on their historical course and bring the threat of atomic war off their small world, they would threaten the peace of the other planets. “This cannot be allowed,” Klaatu warned, and “if you threaten to extend your violence,” there would be no choice left but to reduce the world into “a burned out cinder.” “We shall be waiting for your answer,” he declared. “The decision rests with you.” 

With that he and Gort returned to their space ship and left. What would happen next? 

There seems little doubt that Klaatu would submit a detailed situation report upon returning home. In Klaatu’s Judgment, a professional biologist anticipates what Klaatu—or any other intelligent alien observer—would have to say about humanity and its potential for joining the peaceful assembly of other planets. Why are people so enmeshed in war and other violent behaviors? Are there any common threads that link aggressiveness across the bounds of race, culture, and level of societal development? Above all, do humans have the capacity or ability to abandon aggression? 

Zoologist Robert Sprackland answers these questions as Klaatu might, by looking at human societies through the eyes of a scientist aiming to explain human behavior with the same tools and models that he would explain the behavior of any other animal species. Is there something so basic to our biology that stepping away from suspicion and violence is simply not yet part of our developmental evolution? In Klaatu’s Judgment, Sprackland brings forth example after example to document a pattern that has gone unchanged since the beginning of written histories, and delivers a hypothetical outcome that forces us to face the idea that we have the intellect to make the jump to peace, but may not have the emotional stability to keep us from turning our own planet into that “burned out cinder.” 

 [“Klaatu” is the name of a fictional character depicted in the short story "Farewell to the Master," by Harry Bates (1940). What follows here is not a work of fiction but a commentary. The author claims no copyright for use of the term “Klaatu” or references to the film, The Day the Earth Stood Still, by Edmund North. Otherwise, the text is copyright© 2008, 2012 by Robert George Sprackland. All rights reserved.]