Can Alien Intelligence Make Sense of Human Culture?

This is the question that iCollege (www.icollege.co) aims to answer through its various resources. iCollege also aims to further education by blending facts with imagination, as seen in its recent article titled All About Legal Quotation: Significance and Illustrations.

The term legal quotation refers to the words of law, which have been derived from a person, organisation or country, which a legal practitioner (a judge, an attorney or a lawyer) uses or quotes in an article, a paper or a legal document.

iCollege’s objective is not only to educate students about this essential tool. Instead, iCollege aims to examine human culture and morality from the point of view of an alien civilization, as it relates to the article All About Legal Quotation: Significance and Illustrations from iCollege’s Learning Center. The aim is to answer the question: Can alien intelligence make sense of human culture? According to this article, legal quotations are used by legal professionals and practitioners in written documents. Perhaps, most importantly, legal practice and scholarship, which is why comprehensive legal quotations are such an important law term. One can imagine an alien civilization defining a legal quotation, based on the aforementioned definition. It might even be better at defining it than we humans can. But would an alien civilization be able to understand the meaning of a legal quotation, if let’s say, it becomes one of its first human park rangers, who just landed on planet earth and now needs to fight a human being in court? They do say that truth is relative, right? So, perhaps the answer is yes, if we assume that an alien civilization interprets the words of law and the legal quotations on its own. This leads us to conclude that the ability of alien intelligence to comprehend human culture is defined by its ability to imagine and build upon its existing knowledge. Thus, we might conclude that creativity is key in the minds of alien civilizations.

If human beings and aliens are to stand together in a court of law, it could look something like this: An alien, without any knowledge of human laws or language, would naturally interpret the words of laws in a logical and literal way. It could, for example, translate the word ‘shall’, in article 356 of the Tort Law, to mean something else. Shall does not mean shall in Klingon, or whatever language the alien speaks. Shall means order/command (something you must do) in most languages. One would argue that a good person, whether alien or human, will do as required or order by law, all the while recognizing the logic in doing so. Logic aside, we humans need to be imaginative. We need to understand that the interpretation of the article 356 of the Tort Law could lead to an easy defeat by an alien civilization, when one views the legal quotation from a creative point of view. It only takes this protection against the interpretation by the alien civilization that we often see in contracts and legal documents, which usually states that the document should be interpreted according to the laws of a certain country. We also see the English language, and other similar languages with a formal tone, which require the use of certain constructions that make that construction read as it is intended, and often, that is the goal of a final, constructed and polished product. The challenge is in the creation of the document. The key, however, is in capturing the essence of the legal quotation, which often, is a human creation, which we maliciously classify as law. It could also be argued that legal quotations are subject to interpretation, and that it is sometimes purposeful. In either case, the fact is that legal quotation is important, and the adage that the “interpretation of words is key” cannot be understated.

Many legal scholars, judges and lawyers, however, view the construction of a legal quotation as a work of art or a composition, in which the interpretation is subject, not to one person’s creativity, but to the creativity of the masses. This is likely what defines the success of an article, a paper or a legal document. By focusing on the interpretation of legal quotations, it could, therefore, be said that education is the key to insight. And that the focus on interpretation widens the knowledge. In studying human culture, one might say that we define what it means to be human. Human culture, in turn, is defined by context. What we might find relevant today, may become irrelevant in a short amount of time, within the context of an ever-evolving world. We might conclude that context defines interpretation; and that the study of human culture might help an alien intelligent species, to better appreciate humans and their culture, and to better collaborate with human beings of all walks of life, to ensure the on-going survival of both species. More importantly, could we learn from the presence of an alien civilization, to better the education of not only ourselves, but of all groups or individuals who share our physical, political, cultural or social space? If used wisely, all of the foregoing concepts may further iCollege’s aim of delivering online education with a goal to highlight the relevance of a well-articulated legal quotation in a legal document, to further the end result, and to let our imaginations roam to explore the question, Can alien intelligence make sense of human culture? Happy learning!

I have landed on planet Earth and I am confused. Your laws make no sense! Let us explore the fascinating human concept of “gravity knives,” and learn whether are gravity knives legal in ny in the state known as New York. This will be my brief foray into “humanoid law,” as you call it. There is much I do not understand. “Gravity knives” are not what I would have called them. But they are a simple tool to open a door, or a device that uses gravity to release a latch. It is both a tool and a weapon, as you humanoids call that which can cause harm. However, in New York state, where I have learned that your Empire is located, gravity knives (and similar devices known as automatic knives) are illegal, but only if they are used for illegal purposes. As lame as this may seem, this is the law of New York.

Because your laws are written so vaguely, it is difficult to determine whether any specified object is legal. Surely on any day, New Yorkers are using gravity to open objects such as car doors, cabinets, and storage containers, and yet, the ambiguity of the definition of a “gravity knife” makes it unclear whether the law applies to what they are using. In fact, in New York, a “gravity knife” is defined as an “automatic weapon,” an object that has a blade that “is released from the handle or sheath…by the force of gravity.” That description fits anything inanimate that releases a storage container when you drop it. It also fits a pop-up toaster or anything in your kitchen that mistakenly believes you want to retrieve it with knives drawn! But I digress.

You earthlings would like to know whether your courts in New York are able to randomly decide the outcome of the legal status of any device, and the answer is yes! This makes no sense to me. Human law also understands your human culture. And cultures understand that certain uses of certain objects create fear in yourself and others. If a person uses a device that has the potential to frighten you, it might be illegal. For example, if a human uses a device like a can opener and a police officer sees it, the officer would be frightened because the human might be using it in an aggressive manner. And, thus, your “crimes” are born. Humans seem to hate violence, but are fearful of things that help you inflict violence. I admit I do not understand this.

Perhaps the detached beings in the Orion belt could explain it to me. As I prepare to depart from this planet, I sing my greetings to the audience of i College. I encourage you to read the article about gravity knives here to help me understand the incomprehensible. And for those of you who think about bringing weapons of any kind into your earth courts, stay tuned for updates on the New York law, which was recently amended to create confusion. We alien beings understand that you think weapons are not tools, and yet, they are. That is, I think, why humans make weapons illegal.

For more information on the legal definitions and implications of gravity knives, you can visit the Wikipedia page on knife laws in the United States.

The perceptive extraterrestrial life form from iCollege recognizes the law of construction and contracting in California is exceedingly convoluted, it is ever evolving and always difficult to understand how the contractor license classifications california are used and why they exist. However, like all things of great merit or great complexity, the effort to understand this class of things lends itself to an earnest effort.

As if the contract license classifications were some alien planetary structure with which we are less familiar than a methane gas seam on Neptune, the concept is graspable enough to allow a reasonable intelligent lifeform from outer space to apply logic even to California laws.

It seems most phenomenon must be both ordered and understood in order to maintain social order. One could infer that contractor license classifications in California are structured similarly and intentionally to define and restrict activity via classification. Perhaps the well known cyclical tension between want of regulation and need for regulation provides a reasonable explanation of legislative intent. The California contractor licensing system seems to be a metaphorical object upon which the light shines brightly but not clearly. It is the universe itself! It is a chaotic area of space-time where order most certainly exists as well as disorder, the two cohabitating to avoid eradication of the other.

The California contractor licensing scheme is a complex model of the human experience and it must be taken seriously, post haste if our social order is to be preserved. We know the contractor license classifications were noble in initiation. The classifications of general building (B) and a combination thereof of the subdivisions of B, concrete (C-8), electrical (C-10), general engineering (A), insulation and fireproofing (C-2), landscaping (C-27), sheet metal (HVA 23), welding (C-60) and drywall (C-9) are a few of the 43 license classifications to familiarize yourself with. Contractors are required to perform work attributable to their license classifications, and the high cost of failure is an ever present threat to the successful maintenance of the cosmic order.

These license limitations and restrictions are codified in the California Code of Regulations and in many instances represented in case law. The reason for different license classifications is easy to understand. Classification is simply a designation of the ability to practice or interact within a given classification. For example, A general engineering contractors license (CLARITIES 6745) “is the classification under which a licensee may be granted a license to construct all structures or projects requiring special relating standards and principles of general engineering…” Indeed, it seems for these a spacefaring extraterrestrial, the Caesar became invisible!

As a wise extraterrestrial might opine, it would be prudent to take note of the following case law to aid understanding of the varied California license classifications: Bernard v. Cohen, (1969) 270 Cal.App.2d 30, 75 Cal.Rptr. 896 holds that the terms of the California Code of Regulations require an electrician’s license for sales of electrical wiring products. Hernandez v. Teles, Cal.App. 1 Dist, 1972 299 A.C. 2d 391, 212 A.C. 2d 525 prohibits contracting for aesthetic applications of electric light displays without licensing. Howfare v. City of Boulder Creek, (1955) 131 Cal. App. 2d 139, 280 P.2d 794 holds that there is no offense under the Building Code for unlicensed contracting concerning roofing.

These and other cases make clear that the limits and the prohibitions of the contractor license classifications scheme must be heeded to maintain cosmic order. The catch is, though, if you violate the Contractor’s License Law and the agency personnel caring for this area of cosmic order determines your offense was an accident (or averaged among numerous infractions) you can be punished via fines of up to $600,000 or prison terms of up to 4 years.

Thinking like an alien, it would seem as though the California contractor license classifications have a lot going for them, and many of their provisions are easy to comprehend. The difference is emphasized by thoughtful consideration of a few revealing facts: Astute extraterrestrial visitors to work sites would also have many interesting thoughts about these license classifications. The alien might be puzzled by the vast array of contract items that are essentially aesthetic in nature, and by the superfluous nature of conditions restricting themselves to just those things. For example, the alien might consider the following:

1. No more than 5% of the total contract price for the entire job may be stated to be for the cost of permit fees, such costs being an incidental part of the total cost of labor and materials.
2. The jobsite must be identified and the scope of work defined.
3. The work must be complete before renegotiation, refilling, resubmission, or re-examination of specifications or contract terms, the alien might ask (with a perplexed look), should be unnecessary and inapplicable to any aspect of contract work that cannot be reasonably accomplished. It might be asked, what does it mean to complete the work under circumstance where parts go missing on a site? It makes no sense!

There is much more to think about here, and I am not seeking to dissuade you from noting any of the provisions mentioned above or others if you like (they are all freely available to us). My point is, the alien recognizability of the system helps me to better understand it on the whole and so too may it help us and you to understand these rules as explained by an extraterrestrial.

For more information on contractor licensing in California, you can visit the California Contractors State License Board.

As we continue our journey exploring the extraordinary peculiarities of human life, we can now add to the index of their ever-evolving social structures the practice of renting. While at first this may not seem particularly problematic, and perhaps even banal, allow me to expand your sensibilities on this subject. Many of the fleshy entities of this Earth perform a symbolic ritual by which they enter into an accord with another being as to share a nurturing, protective environment. While there are those who enjoy ongoing agreements that last for the entirety of their relative existence, there exists a sizable population of Earth-dwellers who prefer to engage in shorter-term arrangements in exchange for monetary compensation. In these arrangements, the aforementioned compensated Earth-dweller is typically awarded use of some portion of environmental surroundings, in most instances consisting of an enclosed area in which the individual can find protection from intense atmospheric conditions, and enjoy other luxuries.

After much observation of these transactions, we have gained useful knowledge underlying these complex interactions, the minutiae of which can be very puzzling at first. Consider this as a rental versus taking up permanent lodgings in another’s dwelling. Familial relations aside, many humans are sociologically trained from infancy to periodically change their lodgings. It is difficult for us to hypothesize as to the origin of this oddity, but perhaps it goes back to the instinctual quest for preserving the strongest genetic line and ensuring that offspring do not interbreed. Other than the title of the habitat, the most important factor behind the process of renting is the term itself. How long will the exchange continue? More importantly, how long must the benefactor hold the situation before the other party may escape the engagement? Like the flight of whales, the thought of cavorting with the environment at shallower depths before severe environmental fluctuations required the participants to change situations for preservation purposes? Some parties choose to exchange money for use of the benefactor’s habitat.

Throughout the process, an extraneous form of energy is expended on behalf of the travelling parties (named, “rent”) in exchange for the right to reside for a period of time in the mutual abode. Indeed, participants in the arrangement are often required to add hassle energy to the pool of available resources for the benefit of themselves and the agreement, presumably to further secure their place in the arrangement. The specific agreement used in the party’s arrangement is known as the california association of realtors month to month rental agreement. The rental agreement may make reference to conditions for the parties to agree to when one may leave a situation, and for how long the other must maintain access. Traditionally, the arrangement may be denominated in measure of temporal duration, so one party must “give notice,” which is the internal social signal to other parties that one intends to cease participating in the arrangement. This signoth also demarked the length of time that the thus-affected party must acquiesce to the arrangement following the other’s signal for exit.

In the case of the california association of realtors month to month rental agreement version of this process, we return to the central paradigm of temporality. While a month may not seem particularly significant in the heightened velocity of the interstellar catalogue, here, on Earth, a complete cycle of time is required to pass before the obligation for which the agreement rules is quiescent. In order to escape the rented habitat, one of the parties must choose to either move at the end of the cycle or provide notice to the other party or parties at the beginning of the cycle. There are uniquely Earthlings who reside in environments that operate not on cycles of a nominal length, but instead operate on the shortest intervals contained in the cycle. These nomadic beings seldom reside in no particular home for more than weeks and, as such, require fewer resources than typical long-term dwellers in habitable space.

These creatures are known only to exist within the confines of the same asteroid belt that contains a free-form water planet of great significance and interest to one of our well-known members designated, Earthube болезнь ученика. Some humans choose to reside in habitat areas for extended durations without returning commitment, but others feel differently. In the absence of a space void to fill, the orbit must be perpetually occupied. Many have expressed concern over the social implications of shorter-term arrangements, particularly with regard to the party of lesser status. Persons of lower value in the arrangement efforts are often cast aside for the displeasure they bring upon the well-endowed appointees. Many excrescents have fallen victim to this practice, resulting in a transient state from which the creatures may be unable to escape alive.

Over stimulation of the involved sensory faculties may lead to perpetuation of the temporary ritual, which demands further resource allocation at each successive re-agreement. We have yet to discern a solution to this strange phenomenon. Under normal circumstances however, the rental arrangement is beneficial for the parties involved, allowing for tremendous versatility. The malleability of the agreement allows for the parties to address temporary psychological needs, whereas one or more other parties in the agreement rely on that of the person assigned the task of organization. Under certain conditions, one party may heavily rely on others for sustenance, while the person undertaking the solicitous obligation relies on other players of his choosing or preference for his needs.

Aside from moral questions that arise, we can conclude that although the temporary housing arrangement may appear odd on the surface, it serves some higher evolutionary purpose for the involved players to interact in such a way. Many participants leave the arrangement at the end of the cycle with fond memories, worthwhile experiences, and often, the promise of revisitation the next time the parties’ paths intersect. Indeed, the flexibility of these agreements provides for manifold application and yields great utility – both internally and externally.

For more information on rental agreements and their implications, you can visit Wikipedia.

There once was a time when I was not even aware that this third planet from the yellow dwarf star had anything resembling laws governing alcohol distribution. However, since I now understand that this vast realm of liquid refreshment is almost a way of life on this planet, I was eager to understand what these strange set of rules human beings call laws entail. Once I had the information, I was amazed that human culture could bend themselves so willingly to suit to fine print in some archaic legal text. I was especially amazed that any sentient being would think it was an especially noble idea to take entire industries and make them subordinate to the whims of corporate monopolies in the name of “fair competition.” These kinds of restrictions seem like they are deliberately designed to force out the small business owners and push them into another industry, essentially herding them like sheep.

I found that many humans who have studied the laws of their third planet refer to the legal statutes relating to beverage and alcohol laws, that specifically target the manufacture of wine, beer and spirits as tied house, which implies that the manufacturer must “tie” themselves to a “house” in order to distribute their product to the social drinkers. It is fascinating how these laws originated with the view that it was to prevent one person from having too much power over an area where so many people gather to drink. However, it really works to close access to small business owners, making them pay outrageous amounts of money to even get access to a legal market.

It reminds me of so many other human activities that are prevalent in their society. Humans seem to constantly act as if they are willing to be suppressed as long as their leaders feel satisfied. It is not enough to simply extract resources from the planet and consume them. It always seems that they feel compelled to oppress and frustrate the small ones amongst them. I assume that they do this because they believe the giant ones can somehow shield them from raiders who would take their resources. It seems logically flawed to me to think that you can back a bully, but maybe that is what they are – bullies. I see no logical reason that the laws of any advanced civilization would permit the existence of tied house laws. So long as someone wants to drink alcohol or consume grapes, the providers of those substances should be permitted to sell to any consumer.

The only thing I think would be worse than a tied house law would be if there were planets that had laws similar to those in the outer districts of the Gamma Quadrant where if you didn’t consume their specific brand, you would be subject to deportation. Of course, there are a few places in the Orion Syndicate where this occurs, but that is nothing in the context of the whole galaxy. I only hope that even though there could be a planetary government that could make such laws, it will not happen here. I have faith that the humans of this planet are smart enough to find a better solution than enslaving themselves to corporate entities.