There are about four thousand billion stars in the Milk Way Galaxy, and there are about twenty thousand billion galaxies in the universe. It is very likely that we are not alone in the universe. Should we try to find and communicate with aliens in the universe?
Image Resource: Iter.org
In my opinion, the most interesting and persuasive theory about this question is the “Dark Forest Law”. This theory was brought up in the famous Chinese science fiction novel The Dark Forest written by Cixin Liu.
To prove the law, we need to assume a general theorem. Survival is the first demand of a civilization. Now, to make things easier to understand, assume that there are only two planets A and B in the universe. Planet A is aware of the existence of planet B but planet B does not know the existence of planet A.
If planet A decides to communicate with planet B, civilization B cannot assume that civilization A are not aggressive. They cannot risk their own safety. On the other hand, civilization A is doing the same thing. Therefore, because of the suspicion between A and B, B will assume that A is aggressive, so B will decide to destroy A if A tries to communicate with B. Therefore, planet A should not try to communicate with B.
What if A just ignore B and do noting about it? A cannot do that. If A can find B, then it is possible that B will find A in the future. Because survival is the first demand of a civilization, A cannot take that risk.
Image Resource: Pexels
Our deduction is over. For planet A, when it knows the existence of B, A cannot communicate with B or ignore B. Destroying B is the only choice left for A. Universe is like a dark forest, each civilization is a hunter with a gun. They all travel through the forest carefully because there are other hunters all over the forest. No matter what they see, the only thing they can do is destroying it. In this forest, other people are all threats. Any life that expose itself will be destroyed immediately. This is the “Dark forest law”.
Even though the theory is well-developed and accepted by many people, it is not perfect. Based on the information from the article “Extraterrestrial aliens: friends, foes, or just curious? ” (Micheal, G, Skeptic(Altadena, Calif.)), the fear between two civilizations in the universe is mainly related to the physics of interstellar travel.
One of the reasons that causes two civilizations to attack each other is that they are very far from each other so they cannot have a good communication. However, if interstellar travel with enough fast speed is possible, this suspicion between two civilizations may be gone.
This theory simulates the interaction between civilizations and what could happen. Based on this, we might conclude that it is dangerous to communicate with alien civilizations. However, if we do find other life in the universe, what will we actually do? Are human ready to face the cruel reality of the universe?
By Liang Zou
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