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Do We Live in a Dark Forest?
Why is the universe so quiet?
“Dark forest theory” holds that civilizations fear one another so much that they don’t dare to reveal themselves lest they immediately be considered a potential threat and destroyed.
The dark forest theory comes from a popular sci fi series “Remembrance of Earth’s Past” written by Liu Cixin. It posits that the reason that we haven’t made contact with ET’s and why the universe is so quiet, is because we all live in a dark forest. That any creature that makes a peep instantly is targeted by predators and killed. There is not room in the universe in the long run for everyone, and so, in order to preserve resources, a species must eliminate any competitors that reveal themselves. Here is how the author described this concept:
”The universe is a dark forest. Every civilization is an armed hunter stalking through the trees . . . trying to tread without sound . . .The hunter has to be careful, because everywhere in the forest are stealthy hunters like him. If he finds other life — another hunter, an angel or a demon, a delicate infant . . . there′s only one thing he can do: open fire and eliminate them. In this forest hell is other people. An external threat that any life that exposes its own existence will be swiftly wiped out.”
