I didn't understand the dark forest about gaining their resources in the context of the novel, (even though that's mentioned, I'll discuss below). I believe the

I didn't understand the dark forest about gaining their resources in the context of the novel, (even though that's mentioned, I'll discuss below). I believe the stronger argument is about the inability to trust them at such great distances and time deltas (i.e. you can't trust, but verify). to recap: even if they meant what they said at t0, by the time you get the message at time t(1billion) (just picked a large number), their thoughts could have easily changed due to their development in the time that has elapsed. therefore, if you have the ability, the only "logical" thing is to wipe them out. Of course, this presumes the ability to wipe them out with one shot (2d foil), not get into a shooting war even if you are technologically superior (i.e. trisolarans) with that said, where I felt the logic of the novel fell apart a bit was in the context of the sophons. i.e. the technology for instantaneous communication existed (or at least was built). which negates one of the axioms. now to get back to the resource scarcity argument, while resource scarcity is mentioned, I also think it as basis is problematic. why? because a common method used to destroy these far off civilizations is effectively resource destruction (ex: collapsing 3d space into 2d space). If your goal is to maximize your resources (as opposed to minimizing your opponents resources), you don't go about "destroying" them.