Some signals from space Although it excites humanity from time to time, we have not yet reached tangible proof. It’s possible that there aren’t any creatures intelligent enough to decode the signals we’ve been sending into space for decades, or that the signals haven’t traveled far enough to reach them yet. most accepted options shown as. Even if the signals have arrived, it is known that it will take decades for them to decipher these messages and answer us.

Theory of the dark forestAccording to ‘it is in our interest not to receive a response to our signals or that our messages do not reach them. OK but why?

To better understand the subject; Worth noting is the following paragraph from “The Dark Forest”, the second book in the science fiction trilogy “World’s Past”, written by Liu Cixin:

“The universe is a dark forest. Every civilization is an armed hunter, lurking like a ghost among the trees, gently pushing aside the branches and silently trying to move forward. Even breathing is done carefully. The hunter must be careful because there are invisible hunters like him everywhere in the forest. If he finds another creature – another hunter, an angel or a demon, a defenseless baby or a running old man, a fairy or a demigod – there is only one thing he can do: Open fire and eliminate them. The hell in this forest is other people. It is an eternal threat that all life forms that manifest their existence will soon be wiped from history. This is the picture of cosmic civilization. This is the explanation for the Fermi paradox.”

What do we do when we meet a stranger while wandering in a mysterious place full of dangers?

Should we trust this stranger whose language and intentions we don’t even know, or before he takes action to protect our lives? Should we eliminate it? Even if the two civilizations could communicate with each other, great distances would have to be overcome, physically, culturally and linguistically. The argument in the novel is based on this; All living organisms always want to survive.

Therefore, organisms live in the dark forest or prefers to hide or for his own safety in an encounter He wants to destroy the other side. This theory suggests that we may not be able to communicate with alien civilizations, perhaps because they prefer to hide in the dark forest (the universe).

The Dark Forest Theory mentioned in the novel actually tries to answer the famous Fermi Paradox as stated at the end of the quote you read above.

Fermi Paradox, Alien Civilizations the possibility of existence It expresses the discrepancy between the absence of any evidence or contact to confirm it, even if it is high. Physicist Enrico Fermi, who proposed the paradox, claimed that extraterrestrial life although there probably is states that due to the current circumstances and obstacles, we are unable to communicate with them.

According to Drake’s equation, which occupies an important place in the search for extraterrestrial life; Statistically, there should be at least 10,000 alien civilizations, 20 of which are somewhere close.

In 1961, radio astronomer Franke Drake tried to calculate/estimate the number of civilizations that should be in our Milky Way Galaxy, taking into account many factors that can play a role in the development of civilizations, and he achieved these numbers.

This equation includes the following factors:

• N the number of civilizations we can hope to interact with
• R* Annual rate of star formation in our galaxy
• fp How many of these stars have planets?
• Average number of total habitable planets per star with neither planet
• fl The number of planets between these planets that have a suitable environment for life in some way.
• fi How many of these habitable planets have started intelligent life?
• fc Segment of such civilizations that can leave detectable signals of their presence in space
• L The duration of the detectable signal emitted into space by such civilization

Is the Dark Forest Theory a logical thought or a paranoia?

Although the theory may seem like paranoia “don’t destroy each other out of distrust” We’ve seen examples of it all over the world for centuries. In post-apocalyptic movies This topic also comes up regularly. With the collapse of civilization, people who started acting alone try to kill each other when they meet another person. As the survival instinct predominates, the other party’s life becomes insignificant.

We’ve been sending messages to the universe for nearly a century. But what if they are discovered by a dangerous alien civilization?

The solar system is relatively young compared to the rest of the universe. Therefore, aliens on other habitable planets will have a better time advantage. they may have more advanced technology than we do. With the effect of this situation, it seems more likely that they will reach us before we can reach alien civilizations.

Even though our technology is behind them, we think that one day we will be a danger to them because we are developing so fast. they may want to crush the snake’s head if it is small.

Stephen Hawking and dozens of scientists stressed that this is a major risk.

Let’s think of our world as a house in a dark forest. A few people in the house try to show us our place by holding a lantern out of the window, regardless of whether the majority allows it or not. But what if we attract the attention of malicious people?

That is why there are reactions against a group of people making decisions on behalf of billions of people on the planet. Between them Elon Musk Scientists, including people like me, have started a petition to prevent signals sent to space that could cause our location being detected from not being shared.

In summary, it can be said that the Dark Forest Theory is a logical argument.

Even if alien civilizations intercept the signals we send them because they haven’t yet understood what we are. Maybe they prefer to hide.. Maybe we should hide our existence by not revealing our existence to the universe with signals, It might be safer to stay in the woods after dark!

Sources: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6