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I always liked the idea that there's a reason not to be visible; pretty sure I saw it mentioned on HN first, it went something along the lines of us sending out

by zh3 3y ago

I always liked the idea that there's a reason not to be visible; pretty sure I saw it mentioned on HN first, it went something along the lines of us sending out messages and getting one back that says "SHH! They'll hear you."

axiom92 3y ago
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dark_forest_hypothesis https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dark_forest_hypothesis Also a major theme of https://www.amazon.com/Dark-Forest-Remembrance-Earths-Past/dp/0765386690 https://www.amazon.com/Dark-Forest-Remembrance-Earths-Past/d...
- HTTP418 3y ago
  This was exactly what I was going to include. Seriously good book to see potential ramifications of this theory.
giantrobot 3y ago
That's just not possible. Light has been bouncing off biosignatures on Earth for as long as life has existed here. We can't hide those. We also can't hide the spectra bouncing off air pollutants. There's an ever expanding bubble of spectra racing through the galaxy announcing the Industrial Revolution. Radio emissions are actually much harder to detect because they're weaker than all the light bouncing off the planet. Aliens aren't picking up TV or radio broadcasts. Those become undetectable a little outside the solar system. The signal strength fades (due to the inverse square law) to under natural radio background a little into the Oort Cloud. Only very deliberate high power and highly directional signals can be detectable at interstellar ranges. The Dark Forest theory is just silly and I'd go so far as to say pseudoscience. It just doesn't make any sense if you think about it for a few minutes.
P_I_Staker 3y ago
I like a theory I don't hear much talked about. They just don't want to interfere. We don't interfere with un-contacted people for the most part. Could be that ethics and philosophy ends up dictating that you stay out of it. There's speculation that they've sent probes. Could be they have little to gain from contact, and prefer to leave us to our own devices. After all, it is the right thing to do.

by zh3 3y ago

axiom92 3y ago

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dark_forest_hypothesis https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dark_forest_hypothesis Also a major theme of https://www.amazon.com/Dark-Forest-Remembrance-Earths-Past/dp/0765386690 https://www.amazon.com/Dark-Forest-Remembrance-Earths-Past/d...

HTTP418 3y ago
This was exactly what I was going to include. Seriously good book to see potential ramifications of this theory.

giantrobot 3y ago

That's just not possible. Light has been bouncing off biosignatures on Earth for as long as life has existed here. We can't hide those. We also can't hide the spectra bouncing off air pollutants. There's an ever expanding bubble of spectra racing through the galaxy announcing the Industrial Revolution. Radio emissions are actually much harder to detect because they're weaker than all the light bouncing off the planet. Aliens aren't picking up TV or radio broadcasts. Those become undetectable a little outside the solar system. The signal strength fades (due to the inverse square law) to under natural radio background a little into the Oort Cloud. Only very deliberate high power and highly directional signals can be detectable at interstellar ranges. The Dark Forest theory is just silly and I'd go so far as to say pseudoscience. It just doesn't make any sense if you think about it for a few minutes.

P_I_Staker 3y ago

I like a theory I don't hear much talked about. They just don't want to interfere. We don't interfere with un-contacted people for the most part. Could be that ethics and philosophy ends up dictating that you stay out of it. There's speculation that they've sent probes. Could be they have little to gain from contact, and prefer to leave us to our own devices. After all, it is the right thing to do.