Item from dark-forest by
The two-axiom proof that the universe is a forest of armed hunters, every civilization a candle, every visible candle a target.
Dark Forest theory derives from two axioms — survival is the primary need of civilization; matter in the universe is constant — combined with two concepts (the chain of suspicion and the technological explosion). The conclusion is brutal: any civilization that becomes visible to another is preemptively destroyed, because the cost of trust is unbounded and the cost of attack is finite. The theory gives Luo Ji his weapon and humanity its deterrence; it also condemns the species to never broadcast itself again.
Not an object — a theory. Lives on a single page of Luo Ji's notes, in the conversation Ye Wenjie left with him at Yang Dong's grave, and in the broadcast sequence of the spell. Visualized through metaphor: a black wood, hunters crouched at every tree, no light safe.
Also known as: Cosmic Sociology, Dark Forest, Hunter Theory