The Dark Light Years

What is civilization? What is intelligence? Will we know when we make first contact? These are the questions that are asked in this book by Brian Aldiss. The earthlings in this book define civilization as the distance that man has placed between himself and his own excreta. When first contact is made, it's with a race of beings that wallow in dirt and their own excreta. They look like hippos, even though they are called rhino-men. They have six appendages with hands with two opposable thumbs. They don't experience pain. They make sounds out of multiple orifices. Their spaceship is made out of wood and is covered in their filth. So, are they intelligent? Is this civilization? Or are they lowly animals?

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