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What do we do if SETI is successful?

(www.universetoday.com)
174 points leephillips | 6 comments | 20 Oct 25 17:13 UTC | HN request time: 0.997s | source | bottom
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leeroyjenkins11 ◴[20 Oct 25 20:26 UTC] 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. ge96 ◴[21 Oct 25 20:40 UTC] No.45661413[source]▶
Following that:

> The Berserker hypothesis, also known as the deadly probes scenario, is the idea that humans have not yet detected intelligent alien life in the universe because it has been systematically destroyed by a series of lethal Von Neumann probes.

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2. smallmancontrov ◴[21 Oct 25 20:55 UTC] No.45661590[source]▶
Yeah but they clearly didn't do a very good job on Earth so how systematic could they be?

Don't get me wrong, it's a wonderful premise for a book which can simply mobilize a plot device to brush this problem aside. However, if we want to bring the conclusions back to reality they have to undergo a customs inspection which flags said plot device.

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3. atq2119 ◴[21 Oct 25 23:21 UTC] No.45663038[source]▶
The solution is that the probes were built by a long ago technological civilization on Earth as a desperate measure in an interstellar war.

The probes are out there and were programmed never to come back to Earth.

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4. Larrikin ◴[21 Oct 25 23:29 UTC] No.45663090[source]▶
Personally, I like the plot idea that all of the intelligent aliens know of earth life but intentionally ignore us because they visited in the time of the dinosaurs or even before. There's some material the universe values like how we value oil, and they simply extracted all of it from our solar system. This material allows for whatever sci-fi thing we think is impossible, worm holes, constant acceleration, FTL travel, Dyson sphere material, etc.
5. lloeki ◴[22 Oct 25 06:33 UTC] No.45665561[source]▶
Explored in the Spin / Axis / Vortex series
6. smallmancontrov ◴[24 Oct 25 15:20 UTC] No.45695580{3}[source]▶
That's a solid plot device and sounds like a fun story! It definitely doesn't pass the customs inspection for use in speculation about the real world, though.