Dark Forest Theory— Why we should never meet Aliens?
A New Way To Answer Fermi Paradox
Nobody has the wildest clue if the extraterrestrial civilisations are rare or numerous. There are concepts like the Great Filter that limit the existence of extraterrestrial civilisations. But some scientists believe the number of highly advanced civilisations in our cosmos would be directly proportional to their average lifetimes. The average lifetime could be anything in between the range of a century to a million years. The civilisations that have survived for a million years must have developed into super-advanced civilisations. So, the nearest civilisation might be close enough to detect electromagnetic signals or be in the crosshairs of our telescopes. The traditional estimated range of extraterrestrial civilisation was proposed to be 200 light years.
Even Darwin noted that all individuals did not start with the same set of traits. Therefore, the forces affecting survival did not weigh on individuals and species equally; there were always variations, some of which would prove favourable and confer fitness over others.
Searching for interstellar life and its forms, we (humans) have developed many theories to get answers to life’s hidden mysteries. One of such theories is the Dark Forest which will be prickling your skin with goose bumps.
Before coming to the Dark Forest theory, let’s understand key important concepts that are equally important and led to the formulation of the hypothesis.
These concepts include:
Drake’s equation :
The following sequence of eight terms led a revolution in the field of search for extraterrestrial civilisations. The sequence is as follows:
N = R* · fP · Ne · fl · fi · fc · L
N = number of civilizations with which humans could communicate
R* = mean rate of star formation
fP = fraction of stars that have planets
Ne = mean number of planets that could support life per star with planets
fl = fraction of life-supporting planets that develop life
fi = fraction of planets with life where life develops intelligence
fc = fraction of intelligent civilizations that develop communication
L = mean length of time that civilizations can communicate
Scientists like Frank Drake have formulated equations for determining the probability of extraterrestrial life. The equation (Drake equation) is used to estimate the number of active, communications of extraterrestrial civilisations in the Milky Way. The Drake equation gives a summary of the factors affecting the “likelihood” that we might detect radio-communication from intelligent extraterrestrial life.
But no such radio-wave giving sound evidence of the presence of aliens has been found (though there are certain types of radio-wave frequencies detected, there’s no solid proof).
Fermi’s paradox
— It’s always remained a hot topic in the field of alien theories.
It says, there are billions of stars in our milk way galaxy — some of these stars must have earth-like planets — some of them must have been much older than our sun — so they may have evolved intelligent life millions of years back — some of them may have explored ways of interstellar travel — so the earth must have been visited by those interstellar beings long ago — there is no solid proof of the argument.
The existence of a large number of potentially habitable planets and the absence of signs of life, respectively, are the two aspects of the Fermi paradox that are supported by empirical data. The first assertion, that there are several suitable planets, was made by Fermi but is now backed by the knowledge that exoplanets are frequent. According to current models, the Milky Way contains billions of livable planets. Scientific study is currently being done on the second part of the paradox, which states that there is no proof of extraterrestrial life visible to humans. This covers both general searches for life and searches targeted specifically at finding intelligent life. Many of these searches have been conducted since 1960.
You might be thinking, that Fermi’s paradox looks like a thought process. Yes, it’s a thought process. A complex one!
Methods
Between 1950 and 1970, scientists believed life evolves in isolated island types of environments. So physical communication was regarded as impossible. The only method that came to mind was communicating via electromagnetic signals. Due to this many projects such as SETI, OZMA, CETI, etc had started to take shapes in terms of sending signals in the deep sky.
But till now nothing of the sort called Extraterrestrial or mysterious signal has been confirmed with precision. The lack of evidence for extraterrestrial civilisations called Great Silence ( from David Brin’s essay — The Great Silence — Controversy concerning extraterrestrial intelligent life) has changed the way humans perceive intelligence.
The Morse Message. This consisted of a radio transmission sent in Morse Code to Venus, which scientists still thought was potentially habitable at the time. Another method is with the help of radio signals: Active SETI (Active Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence) is the attempt to send messages to intelligent extraterrestrial life. Active SETI messages are usually sent in the form of radio signals.
Similar is METI (Messaging to extraterrestrial Intelligence). The science known as SETI deals with searching for messages from aliens. METI deals with the creation and transmission of messages to aliens.
One METI message says, “You are not alone!”
Types of extraterrestrial life we can expect:
There isn’t any precise scientific definition of life. Moreover, there isn’t a single method to define the presence or absence of life. When speaking about life we think in terms of life that appears on our planet but it might be different. For example, we give the tag of life to something that has the following properties — carbon-based, has a membrane, uses energy, requires liquid water, performs cell division, growth, and reproduction, metabolic activities, etc.
Prokaryotes: are unicellular organisms, eg,. bacteria.
Hoyle and his team have proposed a theory relating to unicellular life. He says that 3–9 μm infrared signatures of freeze-dried E coli bacteria — implying that space might be filled with unicellular organisms adapted to life in deep space.
Intelligent beings: like us, or dolphins, Chimpanzees, apes or maybe humans — species similar to our own.
Sapient beings: Sapience means wisdom, and sapient being means the being that acts with wisdom eg., Romans regarded goddess Minerva as a sapient being.
Unknown/can’t be said/fast and more advanced: we can’t even predict about these extraterrestrial beings. We don’t know how and what features they might have.
Carl Sagan oversaw a wide range of laboratory studies at Cornell that attempted to mimic the surface and atmospheric chemistry of planets, moons, and comets. The findings demonstrated that under a wide variety of solar system observations, dominant energy sources (such UV radiation and electrical discharge) can encourage the formation of complex organic molecules, including the chemical constituents of life, in high yields. These findings were initially met with some scepticism. These materials are known to exist now in vast interstellar clouds and on the surfaces of numerous planets in the outer solar system. There seems to be a lot of the building blocks of life throughout the universe. Sagan assumed that the existence of life was ubiquitous.
Benefits
If you want to know more about extraterrestrial intelligence or aliens then read the article given below:
The scientists are searching for the benefit of our entire species. — Not just humans, but other species too. — Not just other species, but for the entire universe. We want to serve earthians( all species included) first! Our demands will be:
Technology — Once they’ve reached us, it’ll be due to their technological superiority. We would never miss a chance of travelling beyond our galaxy in their flying-saucers.
Connection — We don’t want to stay alone. For ages, we’ve stayed alone in some dark corner of the universe — about which we don’t have any idea. We want to come out of this abyss. We want peace in the entire existence.
Our survival — We’ve a limited amount of resources. With the passage of time, our population will grow. A single earth wouldn’t be enough for our needs. With the help of our alien brothers and sisters, we can survive in the extreme conditions (when doomsday comes). This survival point is the central idea of the Dark Forest Theory.
Exploring space — Perhaps going out for a vacation in some other galaxy — who doesn’t want? I want. You want. Everybody wants.
It’s possible once we come into contact with aliens, broadening our perspectives through their advanced technologies, and understanding the unsolved mysteries of the cosmos.
These were the benefits while communicating with extraterrestrial intelligence. Now coming to the things that must be kept in mind “before communicating”.
The Dark Forest Theory
The term comes from a series called The Three Body Problem by Chinese sci-fi author Liu Cixin. The Dark Forest solution explains why we haven’t heard from aliens by positing that they are purposefully keeping quiet. The gist of the theory is:
“The universe is a dark forest. Every civilization is an armed hunter stalking through the trees like a ghost, gently pushing aside branches that block the path and trying to tread without sound. Even breathing is done with care. 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 or a tottering old man, a fairy or a demigod — there’s only one thing he can do: open fire and eliminate them. In this forest, hell is other people. An eternal threat that any life that exposes its own existence will be swiftly wiped out. This is the picture of cosmic civilization. It’s the explanation for the Fermi Paradox.”
― Liu Cixin, The Dark Forest
There are two things that are the basis of the concept:
- Survival is the prime requirement of any civilisation
- Civilisation’ growth is necessary and must be expanding
Even the theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking said humanity must keep silent and not attract attention, as alien civilizations might be attracted to Earth, possess the means to travel faster than light, and come in search of our valuable resources.
Importance of Dark Forest Theory
Dark Forest has given a new dimension to thinking. We don’t have an idea if the highly advanced extraterrestrial civilisation would be friendly or hostile. Those civilisations could regard us as partners, hunters, or even prey. The resources needed for survival are rare and every such civilisation would be in dire need of gaining the resources for its expansion and survival. Now, we know there’s a reason for the silence in the space — maybe highly advanced civilisations are scared of being detected — that might be the reason they didn’t send any signal so far.
The lack of understanding between our civilisation and the extraterrestrial civilisation might raise suspicion. We can’t know the real intentions of alien species nor they can know ours. So, in the conditions of suspicion, the consideration of attacking the other civilisation would be regarded as a wise step. In this manner, the hypothesis of Dark Forest might see the light of reality. And, the wisest of all decisions would be to remain quiet and not reveal oneself.
There’s a sort of similarity between Darwin’s theory of evolution and the Dark Forest. Darwin’s theory of evolution by natural selection is based upon three important elements: variation, reproduction, and heritability. This variation part is closely related to survival. Variations in the physical features of organisms that tend to benefit a species in the struggle for existence are preserved and passed on, as the individuals that have them tend to survive. Similar is the case of the Dark Forest Theory. Dark Forest hypothesis reminds us of the survival instinct, and points out that the survival of the fittest is not only applicable to our planet alone but in the entire cosmos and must be given due consideration while communicating in deep space….
