"That's why we can never understand the mind of an alien unless we actually meet them."

That's no guarantee at all. Think 'job interview' or 'courtship'. Nice behavior up front, really lousy on a daily basis afterward. How would we know if they were lying or telling the truth?

We don't even know how cats think, and we've been around them for a few thousand years, at least.

I do remember a comment from many years ago, something about "we suspect that aliens are smarter than we are, but not as good-looking". In a country where the people are trained to evaluate other people based on their appearance, if the aliens are handsome or cute, we don't have a prayer.

Sue