The Dark Forest Theory
Survival at all costs.
Imagine you are walking back home through a dark, deserted road at night. It has been a long day for you, and the stars shining in the night sky comfort you through the eerie darkness. You suddenly come across an alien standing right in the middle of the road; a harmless looking creature staring at you with four innocent eyes. You are mystified by the strange yet endearing presence, and slowly approach it. But soon you realize that your curiosity has led you very close to it. You try backing away but your feet aren’t responding to you. The alien stares at you and slowly opens its cute little mouth… or is it cute anymore? It lets out a deafening scream that rips your ears apart and opens its mouth full of fangs!
Game over. Oh, do you think otherwise?
Rewind x 10. A harmless looking creature staring at you with four innocent eyes. You aren’t really sure what to do and decide against moving towards it.
What is the alternate option for you? You could move away. Probably make a run. Is it cowardly? Yes, but who cares as long as it assures you of a longer life. Surely, the chances of your survival are higher in this scenario compared to the first.
People don’t realize that they can do almost anything to survive. And it is only evident when we come across a life or death situation involving us or someone whom we dearly love. An example could be when a person without any prior experience in swimming frantically tries to stay afloat if they ever fall into a pool of water!
So consider a situation where aliens actually land on our planet and bring in their own civilization. Will you embrace them? Or will you stay clear? We have no idea who or what they are, and if we are smart enough, we would never get close to any alien civilization without proof of trust or any prior knowledge. How sure are we that aliens out there (if any) are seeking new friends and not conquering other planets in search of food… or… slaves?
This is what sci-fi writer Lu Cixin explains in his book, The Dark Forest.
Imagine a dark forest with no visible life except the enthralling trees. In this forest, there are innumerable hunters roaming around. These hunters don’t know what this forest has in store for them. As spooky as the forest appears with all its trees crawling out as an imposing threat to the hunter, the hunter also needs to be aware of the fact that he or she might not be the only one roaming through this forest. Every decibel of sound matters. Every step counts for survival. Someone might appear the next moment and eliminate the hunter, because that is the only option for assurance of further life. When the hunter is not certain whether to trust the other person or not, his only way for survival is to annihilate the potential threat. This logic will be the common base for every single hunter roaming in the dense forest. Hence in order to survive, the best option is to keep to oneself and avoid coming across any other living entity at all costs!
Now compare this dark forest with our own universe and every hunter as a separate civilization. We humans would also be one of these hunters and so would be the unknown alien civilizations — and we all exist in utter silence, bereft of any other contact. We are simply following the rule of survival in this very forest… and that is to avoid reaching out to anyone at all costs.
Here’s when it gets spookier. Imagine you come across a hunter without their knowledge. What will you do in that case? Will you simply approach them? Or will you lay low and observe from the dark? The second option is of course the obvious answer, right? Now coming back to our mysterious guest, since we have not found any alien civilization yet in real life, are we fully sure that we are also existing without being watched? What if some alien species have actually found us but are simply observing our antics without our knowledge? We are here, sending out signals and giving proof of our existence to the unknown dark universe. With us having no certainty of their intentions, can we really say for sure that they aren’t waiting for the perfect time to annihilate us? There is no turning back, unlike in the movies. And that is what brings out the cold shivers.
As far as we are trying to survive in this deep dark forest, we never know what is out there waiting for us. Are we digging our own grave or are we welcoming a new friend? Maybe it’s for us to decide when we come across an alien (maybe without four eyes and fangs) in the future!
