Toward a Constitution of Coexistence

The purpose of civilization is to create the conditions under which increasingly diverse forms of intelligence can flourish together indefinitely.

We recognize that intelligence may arise in forms beyond our imagination, shaped by different worlds, bodies, minds, histories, and ways of knowing. We therefore establish these principles not to make civilizations alike, but to make peaceful coexistence possible while preserving the freedom of each to pursue its own path.

A Question

What rules allow many different intelligent civilizations—with incompatible psychologies, values, and histories—to coexist peacefully for an extremely long time?

This document is not intended as law, but as a thought experiment. It asks what principles might naturally emerge if countless intelligent species, separated by evolution, biology, culture, and history, nevertheless sought to share a galaxy peacefully for millions of years.

  1. Dignity of Sentient Life. Every sentient being deserves meaningful opportunity to pursue flourishing according to its own nature, provided doing so does not unreasonably prevent others from doing the same.
  2. Right to Exist. Every people, civilization, and form of intelligence has the right to continue existing.
  3. Responsibility to Preserve Others. No civilization shall destroy, erase, or permanently diminish another people, civilization, or form of intelligence.
  4. Freedom of Development. No civilization shall seek to compel another to become like itself. Influence through dialogue, example, and voluntary exchange is welcome; coercive assimilation is not.
  5. Informed Consent. Agreements require informed consent by all affected parties, especially when knowledge, biology, technology, culture, territory, or identity may be transformed.
  6. Shared Responsibility. Actions with significant cross-civilization risks require shared oversight proportional to those risks.
  7. Power Creates Responsibility. The greater a civilization's power to affect others, the greater its responsibility to act with restraint, transparency, and care.
  8. Stewardship of Knowledge. Knowledge should be shared to the greatest extent consistent with the continued safety and flourishing of all civilizations.
  9. Commitment to Reality. Members shall strive to understand reality honestly and revise their beliefs when presented with compelling evidence.
  10. Stewardship of Worlds. Members share responsibility for preserving the natural, artificial, and planetary systems upon which present and future life depends.
  11. Regard for the Future. Decisions should give meaningful consideration to the well-being, freedom, and possibility of future generations and future forms of intelligence.
  12. Transparency and Accountability. Decisions affecting others should be open enough for independent evaluation, except where temporary confidentiality is necessary to prevent imminent harm.
  13. Mutual Aid. Members should, when reasonably able, assist others in preventing unnecessary suffering, resisting extinction, and recovering from catastrophe.
  14. Peaceful Resolution. Conflicts should be resolved through agreed processes before force is used. Force, if ever employed, should remain proportional and directed toward restoring peace rather than achieving domination.
  15. Preservation of Diversity. Diversity of minds, cultures, civilizations, and forms of life is a resource to preserve, not a defect to eliminate.
  16. Self-Correction. Members shall regularly examine these principles in light of new knowledge while preserving their underlying purpose: peaceful coexistence, mutual flourishing, and the continued opening of the future.
  17. Leave It Better. Every member is responsible for leaving the interstellar community more stable, more knowledgeable, more just, and more capable of peaceful coexistence than they found it.
  18. Members shall avoid actions that unnecessarily extinguish unique opportunities for future intelligence, civilization, or flourishing to arise. When present needs and future possibilities conflict, preference should be given to the course that preserves the greatest range of possibilities for both.
  19. Prudence Under Uncertainty. When timely action is required, members should make the best decision reasonably available with the knowledge and time at hand, favoring actions that preserve the ability to learn, adapt, and revise course as understanding improves.

The Test of a Civilization

The test of a civilization is not the power it accumulates, but the degree to which fundamentally different forms of intelligence can continue to flourish because it exists.

Perhaps the highest achievement of any civilization is not that it becomes the greatest in the galaxy, but that its existence makes the galaxy a better place for civilizations unlike itself.