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What do we do if SETI is successful?

(www.universetoday.com)
174 points leephillips | 1 comments | | HN request time: 0.235s | source
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leeroyjenkins11 ◴[] No.45648851[source]
Get better camouflage so we don't get get found in the Dark Forrest. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dark_forest_hypothesis

>The name of the hypothesis derives from Liu Cixin's 2008 novel The Dark Forest, as in a "dark forest" filled with "armed hunter(s) stalking through the trees like ghosts". According to the dark forest hypothesis, since the intentions of any newly contacted civilization can never be known with certainty, then if one is encountered, it is best to make a preemptive strike, in order to avoid the potential extinction of one's own species. The novel provides a detailed investigation of Liu's concerns about alien contact.

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1. teekert ◴[] No.45660800[source]
What would we become in such a universe? We would take a step back, it will become about survival again (I know it's like that on earth here and there), not about growing together, exploring. It's like Star Trek's mirror universe.

Sure I'd fight for humanity, but I'd be so disappointed. Maybe even enough to just give up.

(I have to admit I just could not make it through part 2 of the Three Body problem, it went to slow for me.)