Like, resources and energy are fairly abundant in the universe. There's really nothing of material value that we have here in Sol that other species wouldn't be able to get closer to their own systems. So, scarcity isn't a big factor, I think.
Instead, the more scarce thing in the universe is life, with intelligent life presumably more scarce than that. We, ourselves, are the valuable things.
But Dark Forest theory isn't totally an economics argument, it's more of a security argument. With the vast distances and times, other species could become dangerous quickly, so kill them before they are. Again, the vastness and long time scales are just too loose of a thread. Even in the books, humans manage to seep out and hide among the dust and planets, doing things in the dark or in the blinding radiation of stars. So, I don't buy the security argument either. There's just too much space and material out there to really ever be sure that you could ever really sterilize the other species and not have them come back to haunt you. Especially by the time you actually figured out they existed, they'd be everywhere. (The books invent this dimension collapsing weapon idea as a way around this).
So, I think we should have the counterpoint to the Dark Forest theory of hunters with flash lights in a dark forest.
We should have "Used Car Salesman / Lemon Law" theory: Since you can't really beat them 100%, intelligences realize that you should join them; but on favorable terms, of course. So, beware of alien civilizations that appear in your system with lots of flags and balloons and bad ties and big smiles and want you to sign on a dotted line, fast. You can't really know if they are trying to sell you a lemon before the other civilizations show up and negotiations can really start.
Like, resources and energy are fairly abundant in the universe. There's really nothing of material value that we have here in Sol that other species wouldn't be able to get closer to their own systems. So, scarcity isn't a big factor, I think.
Instead, the more scarce thing in the universe is life, with intelligent life presumably more scarce than that. We, ourselves, are the valuable things.
But Dark Forest theory isn't totally an economics argument, it's more of a security argument. With the vast distances and times, other species could become dangerous quickly, so kill them before they are. Again, the vastness and long time scales are just too loose of a thread. Even in the books, humans manage to seep out and hide among the dust and planets, doing things in the dark or in the blinding radiation of stars. So, I don't buy the security argument either. There's just too much space and material out there to really ever be sure that you could ever really sterilize the other species and not have them come back to haunt you. Especially by the time you actually figured out they existed, they'd be everywhere. (The books invent this dimension collapsing weapon idea as a way around this).
So, I think we should have the counterpoint to the Dark Forest theory of hunters with flash lights in a dark forest.
We should have "Used Car Salesman / Lemon Law" theory: Since you can't really beat them 100%, intelligences realize that you should join them; but on favorable terms, of course. So, beware of alien civilizations that appear in your system with lots of flags and balloons and bad ties and big smiles and want you to sign on a dotted line, fast. You can't really know if they are trying to sell you a lemon before the other civilizations show up and negotiations can really start.