NationStates

As the title Implies
What do you think of The Dark Forest Theory?
For any of you who don’t know what the dark forest theory is:
The Dark Forest is a solution for why we haven’t found aliens, it says that aliens are actually hiding, the reason for hiding is either 2 things
1. There is a Big Evil Alien Empire thing that is a danger to anything it sees, so they hide from it to not go extinct
2. Aliens are afraid of finding more advanced aliens who will kill them, but so are the other aliens, so no one is brave enough to send out a signal
Personally I feel like the dark forest is a good explanation to why we haven’t found aliens.

So what are your thoughts?

So land-centric.

I hold to the Dark Water Theory:

Space Squid wrote:So land-centric.

I hold to the Dark Water Theory:

(Image)

I was looking at that comic


Then it hit me:

“Why are those 2 people walking on the middle of the ocean?”

This is my first time hearing it, but... That's not a theory. It's a hypothesis that doesn't even make sense.

Are humans hiding? No.

Are pine trees, dolphins, paramecia, and [pick another species of your choice] hiding? No.

Are all living things on Earth intelligent enough to hide? No.

Are all living things on Earth mobile enough to hide? No

So why the fuck would every species on every inhabited planet except Earth want to hide, know how to hide, and have the mobility to hide -- but we're the only planet in the universe that didn't get the memo? That's complete bullshit.

We haven't found aliens because there are not any in our solar system, and other solar systems are really far away. There isn't any need for any further explanation once you wrap your head around just how far "really far away" is.

This doesn't make sense and isn't true.

The dark forest is the one overlooking Trago Mills on the A38 that I'm just about not-afraid to think of despite the fact I'm in London now

USS Monitor wrote:This is my first time hearing it, but... That's not a theory. It's a hypothesis that doesn't even make sense.

Are humans hiding? No.

Are pine trees, dolphins, paramecia, and [pick another species of your choice] hiding? No.

Are all living things on Earth intelligent enough to hide? No.

Are all living things on Earth mobile enough to hide? No

So why the fuck would every species on every inhabited planet except Earth want to hide, know how to hide, and have the mobility to hide -- but we're the only planet in the universe that didn't get the memo? That's complete bullshit.

We haven't found aliens because there are not any in our solar system, and other solar systems are really far away. There isn't any need for any further explanation once you wrap your head around just how far "really far away" is.

Imagine this:

Your a hunter, you one day find a hunter who is more advanced than you, and willing to kill you if he knew about you, what do you do?, you hide.

Thats pretty much how the dark forest goes, also aliens might know the risk off going into space, they don’t know whats out there and there could be something in the shadows.

As for us?, were just one of the few species who dont hide, one day though, the hunters may find us.

To my knowledge, the OP had omitted an important aspect of the Dark Forest hypothesis as I understand it. Specifically, an aspect of it that goes something like this:

-Species are naturally inclined towards self-preservation.
-When making contact, it is possible than an alien civilisation may care nothing about your and desire your destruction for its own self-preservation.
-Therefore, the best approach for alien civilisations who encounter each other is to attempt to destroy the potential enemy first. And of course, if you happen upon a more primitive species or life-bearing world, that only makes it all the easier to eliminate the threat before it can even develop.

So it’s less a matter of everyone hiding as it is a matter of mass destruction being the most logical course upon contact.

There are still flaws in the hypothesis of course, but I feel like this aspect of it deserves to be represented.

Didn't the author say "My books were supposed to escape reality not comment on it"?

Regardless of the applicability of it's conclusion that's hardly an endorsement of it's logic.

I have a somewhat different theory for why we have yet to contact alien life:

- Sentient life tends to develop infrequently, requiring certain types of star systems and certain types of planets etc, and therefore is usually located hundreds of light years (or even further) away from other sentient life.
- It is not possible to travel faster than light, and there are insurmountable engineering problems involved in trying to travel even at high fractions of the speed of light. Therefore, it would take so long to reach other areas where sentient life is located that no one does it because they have better things to do with their time.
- As such, we haven’t found aliens because, if they exist, they’re probably very far away and would take thousands or millions of years to reach.

I’m still trying to think of a suitable name for this hypothesis. Perhaps the “Really Big Universe Theory”.

If the theory were true, there would only be one country in the world because all the other ones were wiped out. It doesn't make sense unless you're making the assumption intelligent alien lifeforms are all genocidal maniacs for some reason.

Space Squid wrote:So land-centric.

I hold to the Dark Water Theory:

(Image)

Galaxy-brain take.

My thoughts?

If it's true then I'll find it as more of a good reason to focus on what's present than this crap.

the dark forest theory doesn't pan out since it relies on a predatory species to enforce the dark forest, thing is if there were such a species we'd be able to detect it.
Isaac Arthur has a pretty through analysis of it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tEBn8bc0k-I

USS Monitor wrote:This is my first time hearing it, but... That's not a theory. It's a hypothesis that doesn't even make sense.

Are humans hiding? No.

Are pine trees, dolphins, paramecia, and [pick another species of your choice] hiding? No.

Are all living things on Earth intelligent enough to hide? No.

Are all living things on Earth mobile enough to hide? No

So why the fuck would every species on every inhabited planet except Earth want to hide, know how to hide, and have the mobility to hide -- but we're the only planet in the universe that didn't get the memo? That's complete bullshit.

We haven't found aliens because there are not any in our solar system, and other solar systems are really far away. There isn't any need for any further explanation once you wrap your head around just how far "really far away" is.

Here's a video that better explains it.
Its not a real theory no, but pretty much nothing surrounding potential extraterrestrial life is.

Personally if someone is so advanced that the distance between stars is trivial then what would one planet's hyper evolved mold be compared to the hundreds of other planets. Besides what is the probability that nearby stars would have intelligent life that is both industrial enough to have radio but not so digitised that radio signal strength weakens as communication tech becomes more efficient. That we haven't communicated with anyone only makes sense when you think of the probability involved instead of imagining a stellar empire that despite decades of fiction would never function how we like to write them functioning.

If the Dark Forest were true, there would be a reason for it, and we would almost certainly be able to detect that reason. Even if it was just the space equivalent of giant, scary footprints.

I think there are better explanations for the Fermi Paradox.

Chan Island wrote:If the Dark Forest were true, there would be a reason for it, and we would almost certainly be able to detect that reason. Even if it was just the space equivalent of giant, scary footprints.

I think there are better explanations for the Fermi Paradox.

Space Whales.

I think the dark forest theory is an interesting one

You all have good points, but I still hold to the Idea that it’s True

Chan Island wrote:If the Dark Forest were true, there would be a reason for it, and we would almost certainly be able to detect that reason. Even if it was just the space equivalent of giant, scary footprints.

I think there are better explanations for the Fermi Paradox.

The explanation could be that we are in the middle of bumfuck nowhere. Alien life could exist but it might be in the center of the galaxy or on the side farthest from us and we just happen to live in a life desert.

Space is incomprehensibly large, most rare super-intelligent species probably live and die out without ever fully going far into the void.

Thermodolia wrote:

Chan Island wrote:If the Dark Forest were true, there would be a reason for it, and we would almost certainly be able to detect that reason. Even if it was just the space equivalent of giant, scary footprints.

I think there are better explanations for the Fermi Paradox.

The explanation could be that we are in the middle of bumfuck nowhere. Alien life could exist but it might be in the center of the galaxy or on the side farthest from us and we just happen to live in a life desert.

We're in the ghetto of the milky way

I don't believe it.

*removes computer from SETI network*

Latvijas Otra Republika wrote:

Thermodolia wrote:The explanation could be that we are in the middle of bumfuck nowhere. Alien life could exist but it might be in the center of the galaxy or on the side farthest from us and we just happen to live in a life desert.

We're in the ghetto of the milky way

Nah we're a fucking nature reserve, where the aliens can come and laugh at the stupid monkeys who just entered the atomic age, which they surpassed a million years ago.

If you asked me. I think they took one look at the things we post on the Internet, and ever scenes then, they've been Avoiding us.