Hi, odin1 - so many interesting points!
"we are assuming what is intelligence is..."
- Many have questioned the nature of intelligence, and it could be a suitable topic for another thread. For the purposes of this thread, I'm assuming a simple definition:
a. The faculty of thought and reason
b. The capacity to acquire and apply knowledge
"...and assuming their belief systems are comparable to ours."
- So far, I've taken the optimistic view that an advanced technological civilisation, which has successfully endured for at least many millenia, is necessarily rational, and would not hold beliefs systems comparable to those that predominate among contemporary humankind.
"Perhaps their desire to learn is their religion..."
- I take 'religion' to mean an institutionalized system of beliefs relating to the supernatural. So, I also take it that you are proposing an alien race that regards all knowledge as being of supernatural origin, and therefore 'holy'. In that case, such a race may perhaps have a 'Priesthood of Science and Technology' consisting of scientists of the highest rank. Learning would then be not only a useful occupation, but also a moral and religious duty.
"...and if this were so, for the sake of conversation merely fictional, how would you have a dialogue with this kind of being?"
- In this respect, it may be a great deal easier than it is for humans of different religions to dialogue with each other.
Regarding your earlier question -
"The question to ask would be how did their beliefs evolve and what interacted with their development to make them what they are?"
- I think the several thousand years - or possibly much longer - of (a) reaping the benefits of the scientific method, and (b) observing the unfolding of the beauties of the universe, would probably account for the evolution of their beliefs. I'm not quite clear about the second half of the question - could you expand on it?
