Diplomacy

[AkwaticDudeCity]

Does anyone know whether other civs will like me less if i continue to contact them but not making a trade?
I could save the game, contact them and then load after i have written down the relevant data, thus avoiding contact, but that's really tedious (57% ring a bell?)

Also, does anyone know if it is possible to check foreign intelligence like in Civ2 without contacting the respective civs?

thank you