“No nation was ever so virtuous as each believes itself, and none was ever so wicked as each believes the other.” ~ Bertrand Russell

“Nationalism is an infantile disease. It is the measles of mankind.” ~Albert Einstein

Would you sacrifice yourself if it ensured the survival of your family?
Would you sacrifice your family if it ensured the survival of your nation?
Would you sacrifice your nation if it ensured the survival of your species?
Would you sacrifice your species if it ensured the survival of intelligent life everywhere else in the galaxy?

Suppose in every single one of those instances, you will be honoured and remembered- obviously with increasing consequence each time.

Obviously, nobody cares about intelligent life elsewhere yet, because we haven’t encountered it yet- we haven’t interacted with it, we haven’t built interplanetary relationships, exchanged art and culture, and perhaps bodily fluids.

There was a time where nobody cared about anybody apart from their own family, and then as we evolved, nobody cared about anybody outside of their own tribe. Then somewhere along came broader and grander ideas- monarchies, theocracies, nation-states, civilizations. I’m not completely sure about the specifics (and it’s something I plan to look up and get int0)- but basically we’ve progressed as a species to form larger and larger in-groups.

Wikipedia: History Of The World