we're under quarantine. we are crikket. the rest of the galactic community saw what were up to and is putting us in the isolation void until they observe that we can act right
this post was submitted on 27 Jul 2025
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Distorted sound of the early universe suggests we are living in a giant void
(theconversation.com)
The rest of the galactic population is in the void with us. It’s the rest of the universe outside the local void that has quarantined us.
"Void" is much too dramatic of a word for science communication... 20% less dense than city population doesn't even get you to suburban levels of density, let alone anything near "void".
No dark forest yaaaay
We're still in a galaxy.
Dark Forest is not self consistent. Ability to travel implies nanotechnology which allows metabolizing any resource which deterministically leads to expansion which leads to self-selection for fastest expanders which soon means relativistic expansion which is hard to observe since observation window is short while pre-expansive observers are extinguished. Alernative is that nucleation density is very low and/or (reaching the stage of) travel and expansion is impossible. This is consistent with what we see, so Occam's razor cuts Dark Forest.
Those are definitely words.
Ability to travel implies nanotechnology which allows metabolizing any resource which deterministically leads to expansion
Both of those aren't really supported. Maybe all matter will be useful, or maybe rare elements will still be preferred, and what exactly nanotechnology will look like is up in the air (it could be that life has explored the space of possible nanomechanisms pretty well already). Similarly, it's totally plausible an advanced species could stay in place. I actually worry we won't have the attention span to fund slow interstellar expansion.
I'd agree there isn't really a rational reason to cross interstellar space just to be a dick. Irrational reasons are possible, but seem unlikely. The only way dark forest makes sense is if competition is an issue, and the nature of space warfare leaves a strong pressure to strike early.
This reads like a manifesto.
Robin Hanson is in the house!
That lines up with my existential dread.
It's not really a smoking gun, but if their analysis is correct it's highly suggestive, especially when alternatives to LambdaCDM still consistent with measurements have proven really hard for the theorists to make.
Edit: Although what does this say about the cosmic distance ladder?
The data and rationale seem quite compelling!