Three-Body Problem Reveals That ‘Black Forest’ Solved the Fermi Paradox

To date, there is no evidence that extraterrestrials exist and have visited planet Earth; Italian physicist Enrico Fermi also thought about this possibility and put forward the ‘Fermi paradox’. As the universe ages, it is possible that suitable conditions for the existence of life may emerge in other parts of space. But if this really happened, where are all the aliens?

Despite all the possibilities of life in the universe, we have never come into contact with an extraterrestrial race. In the Netflix series The Three Body Problem, the character Ye Wenjie faces a similar dilemma when she receives a message from a group of aliens who claim to be peaceful.

Adapted from the literary work of Chinese author Cixin Liu, the series will attempt to solve the Fermi paradox, but this will probably only be presented in the second season.

As described in the books, Fermi’s paradox can be answered through the Black Forest hypothesis. Imagine that you are in a dark and scary forest where you have to survive longer. In this case, you will need to hide among the trees and not reveal your location to other predators in the forest.

“The universe is a dark forest. “Every civilization is an armed hunter who lurks like a ghost among the trees, slowly pushing away branches blocking the path and trying to walk silently,” is described in an excerpt from Cixin Liu’s second book of the series.

Black Forest and Fermi paradox

In other words, the Dark Forest theory states that no one in this forest will dare to communicate with anyone because they all look like predators that can destroy each other.

By including I The theory is completely contrary to the idea that aliens evolved and are completely benevolent. The most interesting thing is that the Black Forest hypothesis suggests that in this scenario there is a process of natural selection where someone is at the top and is more feared.

Darwin explains that evolution is based on competition for survival. So if extraterrestrial beings were confirmed and the theory of evolution were applied, An alien race will likely be at the top of this survival contest. But not everything is so similar.

Darwin talks a lot about interdependence, where different species depend on each other to evolve; for example, parasites depend on hosts. In this case, the Dark Forest might not be the best analogy, because there is no interdependence there and no one wants to come into contact with anyone for fear of what might happen.

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