What if a galactic civilization already exists? When will they invite Ea...

If there is a galactic civilization, the ability to travel at "warp speed" is not the criterion. Once contact is made, schools can be set up on Earth or our best and brightest can travel to existing schools. The science and engineering will already exist and the planet will benefit from it.

So, what's the holdup? We are not a civilized species. Eating meat might be a thing, but a bigger thing is that we, as individuals and collectively, believe in sin and the need to punish it. In other words, we are not housebroken. The kind of freedom of choice we have - the freedom to judge the choices of others - needs to be abandoned. If it is not, Earth will continue to be a backwater.

The necessary science for mankind to move forward is social science. The galaxy has the rest of it covered. Rumor has it that they also have a more open dialogue with the Creator, so atheism is not the answer either. Sorry, Dawkins - but you are helping hold things up.