The Three Body Problem~The Dark Forest Law

The Three Body Problem: The Dark Forest Law

Preface: The Dark Forest Law is one of the most imaginative things Liu left for readers of The Three Body Problem. Below are the existence of various civilizations, and above is the dark state of the entire universe. To a large extent, understanding the laws of the Dark Forest can help readers comprehend the cosmic background and the survival status of various civilizations described in the novel 'The Three Body Problem'. So I am writing down my views on the Dark Forest Law and the associations that arise from it here.

This article includes some proprietary terms created by the author in "The Three Body Problem", so it will be more "friendly" for readers who have already read "The Three Body Problem". For readers who have not read the original work, I hope my article can also take you to the tip of the iceberg of 'The Three Body Problem'.

Chapter One is an overview of the Dark Forest Law

The story of "The Three Body Problem: Dark Forest" revolves around the Dark Forest Law, but the author did not describe the origin of this law itself, only briefly described it in the book. Here, I will briefly describe how the original text describes this pattern.

1、 The two axioms of cosmic civilization:

1. Survival is the first necessity of civilization: I don't think it needs too much explanation. Every civilization must ensure its own development and growth on the basis of survival.

2. Civilization continues to develop and grow, but the total amount of matter in the universe remains unchanged: that is to say, all civilizations in the universe are constantly yearning for progress and seeking expansion to reach higher levels of civilization. But the total amount of matter in the universe remains constant, which means that when those public resources are exhausted, the only way to go is to 'plunder'.

2、 Two important technical terms:

1. Suspicion chain: Simply put, two unfamiliar and distrustful civilizations cannot reach complete agreement on anything, because "distrust" can lead to one party expressing any viewpoint that may be considered false by the other party. Therefore, due to the existence of suspicion chains, communication and silence between civilizations are not feasible.

2. Technological explosion: The development of civilization is non-linear, and a civilization in its infancy may possess enormous power in a short period of time.

3、 The Dark Forest Law:

At the scale of the universe, when a civilization learns about the possible existence of another civilization's star system, it cannot determine whether the other civilization is "kind" to itself due to the existence of a chain of suspicion; Due to the possibility of technological explosion, it is uncertain whether the other civilization will suddenly develop enough to threaten oneself. So, the only way to deal with this newly discovered star system is to attack it immediately and make it no longer suitable for survival.

Before discussing the Dark Forest Law, let's first go back and, based on the axioms of cosmic civilization described in "The Three Body Problem," reconstruct the possible development of the universe and see how this law may have emerged.

Chapter 2: The Birth of the Dark Forest Law

At the beginning of the birth of the universe, many civilizations lived in the ten dimensional universe. Due to the extremely high speed of light, real-time communication can be easily achieved between civilizations that are far apart. The first few civilizations coexisted harmoniously, but the environment of the 97th civilization was too harsh, and the survival of its citizens encountered difficulties. Therefore, the 97th civilization began to seek help from other civilizations. At first, everyone was willing to help them, but gradually they realized that helping the 97 civilization had a great impact on the lives of citizens on their planet, so they gradually stopped providing material assistance to the 97 civilization. They were angry about this 97 level civilization and joined forces with the main battle of the 106 level civilization to launch a war, destroying and seizing several nearby civilization planets and resources. Civilization 97 and Civilization 106 have suddenly become one of the top "great civilizations" in the universe. In order to avoid retaliation from the remaining forces of these planets, they began to build a large number of starships. The large-scale construction required them to plunder more resources in order to expand, and thus the war between the universe began.

Similar things keep happening in every corner of the universe. Of course, there are also some regions where civilizations have been in a state of peaceful coexistence, but forces like Civilization 97 and 106 will eventually enter those regions, and darkness slowly covers the entire universe.

I don't know how many centuries have passed

The level of war in the universe continues to escalate, and civilization is constantly developing "dimensional reduction strikes". The ten dimensional universe has transformed into a three-dimensional universe through numerous wars. At this point, the composition of civilizations in the universe has become very complex. There are emerging new civilizations like Earth civilization, as well as old civilizations like 97 and 106

We first categorize the existing civilizations in the three-dimensional universe into three types of civilizations. Firstly, there are civilizations like Civilization 97 that have continued from the 10 dimensional universe. We call them the first generation civilization. They possess the most advanced weapons and the most advanced way of life and production in the universe. There is also a second civilization, whose planet is no longer suitable for survival due to being hit, but some citizens embark on interstellar voyages before the planet is hit, which we call drifting civilization. The third type is new civilizations that are in the initial stage of development, just like Earth. Of course, there are various civilizations among these three civilizations, such as the Trisolaran civilization, which falls between the Drifting civilization and the New civilization. However, we will not discuss this situation for now. Let's imagine how these three civilizations coexist in this universe.

Firstly, there is no doubt that the first generation of civilizations have existed in the universe for such a long time. They have become familiar with every aspect of this universe, and have mastered various technologies that we can imagine and cannot imagine (here we have to have a premise that even the most advanced technology cannot surpass the speed of light, they can only use or change various physical laws, but cannot surpass). Early civilizations still exist in this universe, with only one purpose besides survival, which is to wait for the final collapse and restart of the universe, and ultimately return to their familiar ten dimensional universe. Most of their citizens no longer live on spaceships, but have found suitable habitats in the vast universe and established strong defense systems for them.

Every time the dimensions of the universe are updated, all citizens choose to stay or live in a reduced dimensional world. Spaceships patrolling and fighting outside will arrive early in the low dimensional world to find the next suitable place for citizens to live, and then there will be a large number of immigration actions. This great migration has gone through more than one journey from the ten dimensional universe to the three-dimensional universe. We can imagine that the number of early civilizations that can still survive at this time is very small. It is worth mentioning that I believe real-time communication in the universe has long been possible for different early civilizations. The Trisolaran civilization in the three-dimensional universe can use intelligent particles to achieve real-time communication, which is not difficult for early civilizations. This makes it possible for all parties of the same first generation civilization to be in a state of "peaceful coexistence" in the three-dimensional universe, where their opponents are enemies established through repeated iterations of the universe.

Here I have taken a different approach from the interpretation of the Dark Forest Law in "The Three Body Problem": long-distance real-time communication between the universe is impossible. But how did the Trisolaran civilization achieve real-time communication with the Earth civilization through the "smart child"? So in my opinion, even in low light speed environments, all civilizations in the universe can achieve long-distance communication through methods similar to "relay stations". Although this requires strong technological capabilities as support, I don't think it's very difficult for the first generation civilization to achieve this. In the story of 'The Three Body Problem', the author did not objectively deny this possibility. All speculations and suggestions about the Dark Forest Law are described through the subjective imagination of each character. I don't deny that I have overinterpreted this, but I think it is the author's greatest imaginative space left for readers. Many of the viewpoints in the book are not objective facts, but subjective imagination of people, which allows us readers to have our own set of understanding and views on many of the things written in the book.

Let's go back to the three civilizations mentioned above, followed by drifting civilizations, those civilizations whose planets were destroyed. They also have a very high level of technology, some of which are even enough to make people admire early civilizations. Early civilizations were surprised when they first discovered civilizations in low dimensional environments. They didn't expect that life could be born in an environment that was already very 'harsh' for them. Early civilizations attempted to connect with those civilizations, but soon after, they suddenly realized that this state was very similar to the state at the beginning of the universe's birth, and everything would return to the past of slaughter, ultimately leading to this nine dimensional universe no longer being suitable for survival. So early civilizations decided to nip these low dimensional civilizations in the bud. They destroyed all the existing habitats of civilizations that could be found and began searching for other possible places of civilization in the universe, eliminating them one by one.

But in the vast universe, there are always places they cannot find. Those civilizations had already secretly developed and possessed the ability of interstellar navigation before being discovered by the first generation civilization, so they left their residence and embarked on interstellar navigation. From then on, they became wanderers, and the drifting civilization truly became a 'drifting civilization'. The drifting civilization that is constantly being chased is naturally very angry. They are also searching for possible habitats of early civilizations and launching attacks on them. So inevitably, a large-scale cosmic war began.

In repeated wars, the hatred between primitive civilizations and wandering civilizations has been increasing day by day, and primitive civilizations have begun to frantically search for and destroy planets where civilizations may exist. The drifting civilization certainly does not want to be bullied by these cosmic giants all the time, so it is also looking for different opportunities to destroy the residence of the first civilization. Slowly, they all became hunters and prey. At this point, the Dark Forest Law has actually taken shape, that is, every time a primitive civilization or a drifting civilization discovers a planet that may have a civilization, they will choose to destroy it directly to avoid unnecessary trouble for themselves.

Is this different from the Dark Forest Law described in 'The Three Body Problem'? Although the result is the same, the reason for this pattern is different. Indeed, in order to clarify this issue, we have finally come to the story of "The Three Body Problem" to see how new civilizations like Earth civilization survive. The new civilization is ignorant in the universe. Compared with the "old fogies" who have lived in the universe for centuries, they do not even know whether there is other life in the universe, which also leads them to constantly explore and discover. During the exploration process, the unlucky new civilization happened to encounter the initial civilization and the drifting civilization, and was ruthlessly eliminated; The lucky new civilization has explored another new civilization like itself, and they communicate with each other with curiosity and eagerness. The Earth civilization is right in the middle. They found a civilization that had a preliminary understanding of the universe like the Trisolaran civilization, and a series of stories described using the Trisolaran theory occurred.

Chapter 3: The Dark Forest Law

I mentioned in Chapter 2 that the stories described in "The Three Body Problem" are rarely based on objective facts, and most of the plot revolves around the thoughts of the protagonist and the public. The objective facts described from the perspective of God only account for a small part. The proposal of the Dark Forest Law of Earth civilization is also the same. In the original text, all the process of how Earth civilization proposed the Dark Forest Law came from the ideas of various characters, so from the perspective of the universe, the law proposed by Earth civilization is very "one-sided".

Although this hypothesis has been verified by facts, the launch of sub coordinates has led to the destruction of sub planets, which coincides with the Dark Forest Law proposed by people. But who can say it's not a "Archer Farmer" scam? The truth we believe in is nothing more than a coincidence accidentally left by advanced civilizations. The limitations of thought have led Earth civilizations to speculate on the 'chain of suspicion', but for advanced civilizations, this deduction process is completely unnecessary as no civilization can survive except for themselves.

Some people here may wonder why the initial civilization has developed for so long and has not yet had a great "dominance" in the universe. I also had this doubt for a while, but I think there are two possibilities. One is that every 'dimensionality reduction' is also a rebirth for the first generation civilization. All knowledge and weapons used in high-dimensional universes are no longer applicable in low dimensional universes. Of course, because they hold most of the truth about the universe, even the development from scratch after dimensionality reduction will be much more lively than the original low dimensional text, but current technology is also not suitable for them. Another possibility, in my opinion, is that early civilizations had already attempted to manage other civilizations through "domination" in a certain dimension, but the results were not satisfactory. Dominating the vast universe is not an easy task. So a simpler and more effective method is naturally destruction.

The understanding of the Dark Forest Law by Earth civilization must be 'preliminary'. The reason for this idea is that the Trisolaran civilization, as a civilization with a much higher level of technology than the Earth civilization, actually only has a partial understanding of the dark forest state in the universe. The Trisolaran civilization did not immediately destroy Earth upon learning that the coordinates of the Trisolaran galaxy were broadcast, which is incredible in the Dark Forest Law. Although the solar system has become a place where people cannot reach wallpapers, there is still a possibility of escaping from Earth's civilization in the future, and it is uncertain whether humans will retaliate against the Trisolaran civilization in the future. So I believe that the Trisolaran civilization has not yet fully understood the truth in the universe.

Finally, I would like to mention my personal understanding of this rule. In my opinion, the axioms of cosmic civilization have a high probability. If there is so much life in the universe, then surviving in this crowded universe becomes the top priority. The Dark Forest Law that emerged from this is seen by higher civilizations as the beginning of battle, but by lower civilizations as an inevitable signal of death. There are different views on this' law that the universe must master 'among civilizations at different levels of development. They are all one-sided and incomplete. The objective fact of the universe is beyond doubt - all civilizations are striving for survival.

The Dark Forest Law~Fermi Paradox

The universe is a dark forest, and every civilization is a hunter holding a gun. They sneaked through the forest like ghosts, gently pushing aside the tree branches blocking their way, trying not to make a sound, and even breathing with caution. He must be careful because there are hunters like him sneaking around in the forest.

If he discovers any other life, there is only one thing he can do: shoot it out. In this forest, others are hell, an eternal threat, and any life that exposes its existence will be destroyed. This is a picture of cosmic civilization.

I believe everyone has read the great science fiction novel 'The Three Body Problem', which has broadened the horizons of a generation. In the book, Liu described the information exchange and life and death struggle between human civilization and the Trisolaran civilization. Of course, if you haven't read this novel yet, you can follow Bian Xiao and check his private messages.

Liu used the Fermi Paradox to explain the Dark Forest Law of the universe: in a universe with limited resources and numerous intelligent civilizations, any civilization that actively exposes itself will be destroyed by other civilizations!

This leaves us with several questions: 1. Will we be annihilated by any extraterrestrial civilization when the coordinates of Earth are exposed to the universe? 2. Are extraterrestrial civilizations kind or malicious towards us? We are like Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 launched from space. Is it right or wrong?

The novel 'The Three Body Problem' mentions the laws of the universe - the Dark Forest Law. The basis for this law comes from the independent development and evolution of civilizations without contact and mutual discovery. But in fact, all civilizations are limited by limited resources.

Countless people understand it as: in the universe, civilization A discovered the existence of civilization B; A cannot determine whether B is benevolent or malicious, let alone whether B will attack A first after discovering it later. So A will attack B first for their own safety to ensure their own security.

However, Bian Xiao believes that there is one more thing. But the resources in the universe are limited. What will civilization A think when it discovers that civilization B is inferior to it and has a large amount of resources? In human civilization, the term colonization has been repeatedly mentioned in modern history.

In the game of great powers, countless small countries are forced to become vassals of great powers simply because they are at a geographical crossroads. Countless small countries, just because of their abundant energy resources, are manipulated by major powers and become energy exporters and construction sites. We magnify the experimental model of human society, which is the reality of the universe.

Therefore, Bian Xiao believes that the Dark Forest Law is fully applicable to the cosmic environment to a certain extent. We cannot determine whether the level of extraterrestrial civilization is higher than ours, but we can find that our interstellar civilization is definitely much higher than our human civilization.

As the saying goes, a person is innocent, but they are guilty. The development of any civilization depends on resources. When our abilities are insufficient to protect our resources, extraterrestrial civilizations, good or bad, will plunder them. Transform our planet into a colony, or even destroy it, in order to obtain the necessary resources. The goodwill between civilizations comes from their own strength.

As for the third point, in fact, humans have been searching for the footprints of extraterrestrial life. As advanced beings, we are so lonely in the vast universe. Therefore, whether it is manned moon landing, Mars exploration, etc., Human beings have explored life.

Unfortunately, we have not yet found any evidence of the existence of life. At present, the farthest human detection distance is Voyager 1. After decades of flight, it is 21.6 billion kilometers away from our Earth. It looks far away, but it hasn't flown out of the solar system yet.

In the vast universe, our solar system is just one of the galaxies. Scientists estimate that there are at least 200 billion stars in the Milky Way! There is even a probability of one in ten thousand that a life planet similar to Earth will appear near these stars.

Therefore, in order to search for other extraterrestrial civilizations. In the last century, NASA scientists recorded the coordinates of our Earth's position, human DNA, and relevant information about human civilization on a gold-plated record, and sent it out through the probes of Voyager 1 and Voyager 2.

According to information released by NASA, this record records basic human information: portraits of men and women, coordinates of the solar system in the Milky Way, coordinates of the Earth, human personality, technological level, and so on. At present, these deep space probes have flown to the Kuiper Belt of the solar system, and we can no longer retrieve them.

In 300 years, they will fly out of the Kuiper Belt and reach the Oort Cloud in the solar system. One day in the future, when these probes float in the universe, they will be intercepted by extraterrestrial civilizations. When extraterrestrial civilizations know the coordinates, technology, and level of civilization of our Earth, we still know nothing.

At this moment, we humans will become the B discovered in the dark forest of the universe. Once extraterrestrial civilizations have the ability to travel across planets, they will be interested in our Earth. That means they can easily destroy us with technology, and we will be colonized or even destroyed by interstellar colonization!

However, limited by human technological civilization. The speed of these probes is limited, and it takes tens of thousands of years to fly out of the solar system. So, based on the average lifespan of humans, we don't have to worry about this detector. Alien civilizations cannot find us through interception probes.

Unfortunately, in addition to detectors, scientists also use wireless electromagnetic waves to send signals to countless regions in the universe where civilizations may exist. For example, the Arecibo message emitted by the famous Arecibo radio telescope. These signals carrying human civilization and coordinate information propagate at the speed of light in the universe.

So, the coordinates of our Earth have been exposed in the universe. What will the hidden civilizations in the galaxy do once they discover us through radio information? Liu has already provided a good explanation for this in his book. When the forest is pitch black, all hunters can see marked areas in the forest

There is a high probability that 90% of people will ignore it. But 90% of the remaining 10% will be carefully checked to verify the authenticity of the information. The remaining 10% will choose to try 'one shot'. Because in highly developed civilizations, attacks are far safer than detection.

If the coordinates are false, there is nothing to lose. If it is true, then rule out potential threats. So, assuming there are extraterrestrial civilizations in the Milky Way, they would choose to hide and protect themselves from being discovered by other civilizations.

No civilization can guarantee whether it is the most powerful existence, let alone whether it will be invaded, colonized, or destroyed by other civilizations. So everyone will carefully protect themselves, gather information, and quietly develop technology. However, we humans are too lonely and need to prove that the universe has companions.

We hope to find evidence of the existence of other organisms and find like-minded partners. In this regard, we have never considered whether extraterrestrial civilizations are benevolent or malicious. We are still curious about all the unknowns, and we have never considered the consequences of it all.

Some people may feel that we are overthinking, as scientists are concerned about a series of things that have not happened. But who would write down their real address and family situation and post them online? By analogy, we can see how confident we humans are in this action.

There is a saying in "The Three Body Problem": Throughout human history, it is also accidental. It's really lucky that there haven't been major changes from the Stone Age to today. But since it's lucky, one day it will end! I really hope that when that day comes, we humans have developed enough technology to achieve interstellar navigation! Finally, do you think this will bring danger? If you have any opinions, welcome to discuss!