When we look up at the night sky, we see billions of stars. Statistically, the universe should be teeming with life. So, why is it so quiet? Why haven't we heard from anyone? The answer might not be that we are alone, but rather that everyone else is hiding. This is the Dark Forest Hypothesis, a solution to the Fermi Paradox proposed by sci-fi author Liu Cixin, and it paints a chilling picture of our cosmos. Imagine the universe as a dark forest at night. It appears quiet, but it is not empty. The silence is not due to a lack of life, but because the forest is prowled by armed hunters—advanced civilizations. In this dark forest, stealth is survival. Any life form that reveals its location becomes prey. The theory relies on two grim axioms: first, survival is the primary need of any civilization. Second, while civilizations grow and expand, the total matter in the universe remains constant. This creates inevitable conflict. Because of the vast distances in space, you ...
Reality is stranger than fiction. Welcome to the rabbit hole.