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Not everyone reaches the conclusions of the Dark Forest. But those who don't reach it are exterminated.
by beat 7y ago
Not everyone reaches the conclusions of the Dark Forest.
But those who don't reach it are exterminated.
- YeGoblynQueenne 7y agoIn the books, or in the real world? In the real world there are many competing theories about why the universe is silent: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fermi_paradox https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fermi_paradox
- beat 7y agoIn the books. It's just the author's theory for the Fermi Paradox. And it's a compelling and terrifying theory.
- ethbro 7y agoNo. There are about 100 other parameters whose relative balance determine game theoretical solutions to the problem. And as with many things, Cixin Liu handwaves away all that complexity in service of narrative. Don't confuse fiction with reality. Look at the Drake Equation as a much simpler example. Even given its simplicity, small tweaks in assumptions produce wildly different projections.
- beat 7y agoNot confusing fiction with reality. Simply stating the premise of the novel. I don't object to anyone handwaving away complexity in service of narrative. Virtually all authors do that. (Two exceptions that come to mind are Tolstoy's War and Peace, and Proust's Remembrance of Things Past.)
- TeMPOraL 7y ago> There are about 100 other parameters whose relative balance determine game theoretical solutions to the problem. Name three. I'm by no means an expert on game theory, but accepting the two axioms that are quite explicitly stated in the story, "dark forest" seems to follow quite naturally.
- ethbro 7y ago1. The value of alien ideas being introduced into a culture. 2. The rarity of habital planetoids. 3. How quickly civilizations spread within their local area.
- hoseja 7y agoOnly if there are means to exterminate them, which in the books are rather... speculative and hinging on utter idiocy of human civilization.