* * * * * * * * Supposing we should succeed in exchanging thoughts with the inhabitants of distant worlds and should, through them, acquire the elements of a civilization _superior to our own_, would this knowledge prove a blessing to us or the reverse? The word "superior" must, of course, be treated circumspectly. It is to denote only that, relatively, this distant civilization bears somewhat the same relation to our civilization of to-day as our own bears to that of an Australasian negro or an anthropoid ape. There are fanatics of progress whose wishes plunge headlong and without restraint into the future, and to whom nothing could be more desirable than the sudden appearance of a civilization that, as they opine, would at one stroke carry us "forward" many thousands of years. But the view of these magicians with their seven-league boots is untenable. Let me cite a mere outline of the many opposing arguments in a few words of Einstein. "Every sudden change in the conditions of existence, even if it occurred in the form of a higher development, would come upon us like a doom, and would probably annihilate us, just as the Indians succumb to the civilization that has outstripped them. The tragedy of our own highly civilized times is that we cannot create the social organizations that have become necessary as a consequence of the technical advances of the last century. This has given rise to the crises, impasses, and senseless competition between nations, and to the impoverishment of defenceless individuals. These deplorable conditions would become inconceivably accentuated if we were to be invaded by extra-mundane technical sciences of a higher order." * * * * * * * * Nevertheless, there is still a possibility that the "superior civilization" might contain indications of the organizations which we lack. Instead of entering on the question of this Utopia, we confined ourselves to comparing past conditions in our world with present ones. Did we not have the most promising preliminaries for an organization that was devoid of friction and tended to reduce the competition between nations in the numerous international institutions that drew together a great section of the intellectual world to work in co-operation? Are there hopes that this international coalition will be resumed?