The literary era since 1979

The next day, New York Hall of Science.

Brigitte Lin changed into a cooler sky blue dress and walked towards the venue with Fang Yan, Mike and others.

The reporters and science fiction magazine editors who had been gathering at the door for interviews rushed forward and surrounded them.

Fangyan originally wanted to refuse outright, but after thinking about it again and again, he thought that maybe it was a media interview deliberately arranged by Jason Epstein to increase the exposure of "Artificial Intelligence" and the upcoming "The Ring", and to announce Kubrick's "Artificial Intelligence" in advance.

So he stopped and pointed at a blonde female reporter who was the first to raise her hand in the crowd:
"Artificial Intelligence lost to Ender's Game at the Nebula Awards last year. This time you and Orson are meeting again at the Hugo Awards. Fang, are you confident that you can beat Ender's Game and win the Hugo Award for Best Novel?"

"Both Ender's Game and Artificial Intelligence are excellent science fiction works. I have seen many fantastic ideas in Ender's Game, many of which have touched upon my blind spots in imagination and have benefited me a lot..."

Fangyan Lailai Tong Commercial boasted, "As for who will win the Hugo Award, I believe that whether it is me, Orson, or other science fiction writers nominated for the award, when others are looking down for sixpence, they will look up at the moon and stars, with the universe in their hearts."

"Asimov said at the Nebula Awards ceremony yesterday that he would work with you to improve his 'Laws of Robotics'."

The editor of Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine introduced himself. "Can you tell me a little bit?"

"Do you know the Zeroth Law?"

Fangyan asked instead of answering.

Almost everyone present, including the editor of Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine, nodded.

"All I've proposed are some trivial extensions of Asimov's Zeroth Law."

Fangyan gave a mysterious smile.

That's it?

What’s next!
You arouse other people's curiosity, but it ends here?
The editor of Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine looked depressed and eagerly asked what the new laws of robotics would be like.

"Well, let's wait for Asimov to reveal it."

Fangyan smiled and made a gesture to keep quiet.

Seeing him skillfully answering reporters' barrage of questions in English, Lin Qingxia's eyes flashed with a strange look.

After the interview, I walked quickly into the Science Museum and couldn't help but say:

"I didn't expect you to be so adept at dealing with the media."

"Want to learn? I'll teach you."

Fangyan didn't watch "Yes, Prime Minister" in vain, and a playful smile appeared on the corner of his mouth.

"Okay."

Lin Qingxia said that she wanted to learn a few tricks so that she could deal with the entertainment paparazzi in Hong Kong in the future.

Fangyan patiently taught: "If you have nothing to say, just say I have no comment, but it is better for you to have a set of requests. No matter what they ask, just say your set of questions. Don't care what the question is, just say your own words... If he asks the same question over and over again, you can say 'This is not a problem' or 'I think the more important question is', and then repeat your set of questions. It's very easy..."

"Thank you."

Lin Qingxia silently remembered it in her heart, then smiled and said: "Your methods are really useful to me."

Fang Yan said: "The most important thing is to be flexible. The media in Hong Kong is not easy to deal with."

"That's right, it's so annoying!"

Lin Qingxia felt annoyed and helpless when she thought about being constantly pestered with questions about Qin Xianglin and Qin Han.

…………

In the Science Fiction Museum, Isaac Asimov, Heinlein, Jason Epstein and others had already arrived early.

"square!"

"I didn't miss anything exciting, did I?"

Fangyan said half-jokingly.

"Of course not. We have only just begun."

Isaac Asimov shook his head.

Heinlein continued the topic of the Fermi Paradox, "The Earth is a relatively young planet in the universe. If there are extraterrestrial civilizations in other galaxies, they may have existed tens of millions or even billions of years earlier than the Earth." Then he changed the subject, "But the question is, if extraterrestrial civilizations really exist, why haven't humans found any traces of aliens until now?"

Almost everyone unanimously ruled out the theory that "human beings are the only intelligent civilization in the universe so far."

Fang Yan said: "Weakness and ignorance are not obstacles to survival, arrogance is."

Heinlein agrees very much, "Humanity's dimension in the universe is very small. Only when we can face up to our own insignificance every time can we make great progress. The same is true for science fiction works. Only in this way can we be full of imagination, awe and desire to explore the universe..."

Lin Qingxia blinked, curious about their different explanations and statements about the Fermi Paradox.

Jason Epstein started the discussion by mentioning the "hedonistic retirement theory" that is popular in science fiction magazines:
"Before the aliens developed interstellar travel technology, they may have solved their own survival problems. Alien colonization would lose its meaning, and civilization would turn to the pursuit of pleasure, develop low-cost and efficient entertainment methods, and live in a corner of the starry sky, leaving it to fend for itself."

"Fang, Kade, what do you think?"

Isaac Asimov looked at Dialects on the left and Orson Card on the right. These two were also the most popular candidates for this year's Hugo Award for Best Novel.

Fangyan and Ossankade exchanged polite words, and seeing him make a gesture of humility, Fangyan stopped refusing:

"Remember what I mentioned yesterday when I talked about the zeroth law? Whether it's human civilization, the animal world before humans, or even in the entire universe, survival and development are the top priorities. I think this law also applies to highly intelligent alien civilizations."

As soon as this was said, Isaac Asimov, Heinlein and others whispered to each other, almost unanimously agreeing -

Survival and development are the first principles of civilization!

Seeing that the spotlight was stolen by Fangyan, Ossencard immediately said:
"I think that rather than giving up on external exploration because of their desire for pleasure, it is more likely that extraterrestrial civilizations lack the resources for interstellar colonization."

"Can you tell me a little more about this?"

The editor-in-chief of "Similar Body" gave him an encouraging look.

"I call it the 'resource sieve theory.'"

Osencard said: "An extraterrestrial civilization may have used up all its available resources before developing the ability to colonize the stars, and can only be trapped in its home planet or home star system and wait for death, so it has lost the possibility of communicating with other civilizations. Take the Earth as an example. If we humans cannot develop and utilize the resources on the moon, it will be almost difficult to realize the exploration of the solar system, let alone interstellar colonization." "This is the first time I have heard of this theory."

"It doesn't seem logical at first, but if you think about it carefully, it does make some sense."

"Yes, if this resource sieve theory is true, then all advanced intelligent civilizations may be in big trouble. That is, before the resources are exhausted, the civilization must acquire the ability to expand interstellar, otherwise it can only wait for death on its home planet or home galaxy."

"........."

After some discussion, many people present felt that Osoncard's theory was a more novel and scientific explanation of the Fermi Paradox.

Heinlein did not think so. As one of the representatives of the interstellar colonization school who wrote "Starship Troopers", he naturally firmly believed that there existed interstellar civilizations in the universe that could conquer alien galaxies. So he combined social Darwinism and summed up a set of "natural enemy theory".

"This is a possibility that I happened to think of when I was exchanging letters with Clark recently."

"Survival of the fittest. There is a food chain of the jungle among all intelligent species, among extraterrestrial civilizations, and even among galaxies. This is because any interstellar civilization species climbs up the technology tree through brutal internal arms races and the survival of the fittest."

"This kind of competition will lead to two situations. One is that species within the same civilization will create high-tech weapons such as nuclear weapons and kill each other, gradually developing increasingly difficult to control dangerous technologies, and finally leading to the complete self-destruction of the entire civilization."

"That time and that moment is just like this moment."

Fangyan suddenly interrupted.

"That's absolutely true."

When people think about the current world situation, nuclear war has always been the sword of Damocles hanging over the heads of mankind.

Mike couldn't wait to ask: "What about the other situation?"

Heinlein said: "The other possibility is that after a long competition, a big winner will emerge from this galaxy's civilization. The winner takes all and gets to exploit the resources of the entire mother planet or even the mother galaxy to facilitate interstellar colonization and expansion. A highly intelligent civilization based on the law of the jungle will regard other extraterrestrial civilizations as their natural enemies, and the theory of social Darwinism will evolve into cosmic Darwinism."

"You haven't spoken since a while ago. What do you think of what Robert said?"

Isaac Asimov looked at Fang Yan meaningfully, "Or what do you think of the Fermi Paradox?"

Fang Yan said: "This 'natural enemy theory' explains to a certain extent why we can't find aliens. It's because the aliens are afraid that we or other extraterrestrial civilizations may come to destroy them after discovering them, so they hide themselves or even simply don't contact the outside world."

Heinlein clapped his hands, "As you said, survival and development are the first principles of civilization!"

Fang Yan said: "But I think that whether it is the 'natural enemy theory' or other interstellar colonization theories based on social Darwinism, there is still a prerequisite, that is, civilization continues to grow and expand, but the total amount of matter in the universe remains unchanged."

"The total amount of matter in the universe?!"

Isaac Asimov, Heinlein and others looked at each other.

"Yes, this is what I thought of from the resource sieve theory mentioned by Orson."

Fang Yan said: "The resources in the universe are limited, and the development of civilization requires the support of ever-increasing resources."

Osoncard's eyes widened. He was using my words!

Heinlein's eyes suddenly lit up. "You have explained the motivation for interstellar colonization. The reason for actively expanding outward is to find the next new planet that can provide resources for civilization before the resources on the mother planet are no longer sufficient for civilization to survive and develop."

Fang Yan smiled and said, "So I think the entire universe is actually a dark forest where you can't see your hand in front of you."

Even someone like Lin Qingxia, who is not interested in science fiction, is curious about the Dark Forest Theory, let alone others.

Fangyan explained succinctly: "In the dark forest of the universe, every civilization is a stealth hunter holding a gun, waiting for an opportunity to kill its prey. They must be extremely cautious in every move to avoid exposing their existence, because the slightest disturbance will reveal the coordinates of their civilization. Then, those hunters who can't tell whether they are prey or predators can only do one thing."

Then he raised a finger, "Shoot it! In this forest, other people are hell and an eternal threat!"

"Maybe not. Maybe if hunters can communicate with each other, we can avoid accidental injuries..."

Osonkad frowned.

"Communication! The question is, can the communication be smooth?"

Mike said: "Differences in language, communication technology, and information interpretation can all become obstacles to communication between civilizations!"

"Just looking at the transmission distance, the distance between hunters in the Dark Forest may be only a few meters or tens of meters, but the distance between two civilizations is hundreds of thousands or even millions of light years. Because of the poor communication between the two sides, it is impossible to judge whether the other party will release goodwill, thus forming a chain of suspicion." Fang Yan said, "So the best solution is to hide yourself and eliminate the civilization that may expose your existence as soon as possible."

Isaac Asimov asked: "Fang, isn't this too extreme and radical?"

Fangyan looked around and said, "I wonder if you have read or heard of the book Guns, Viruses, and Steel that I wrote?"

Everyone was wondering why this book was suddenly mentioned, and Mike clapped his hands:
"Teacher Fang, what you want to talk about is the destruction and demise of Indian civilization!"

In an instant, Isaac Asimov, Heinlein and others suddenly realized, but a chill and fear instantly surged into their hearts.

Fang Yan said seriously, "Just like the invasion and destruction of agricultural civilization by industrial civilization, would an extraterrestrial civilization that has already achieved interstellar colonization attack a human civilization like ours that cannot even develop the moon?"

Isaac Asimov was immediately horrified and said, "Is this the true picture of the universe?"

"The reason why we haven't come into contact with alien civilizations is probably because all civilizations cannot know whether the other party has good intentions, so they choose to hide themselves and not communicate, in order to avoid being regarded as natural enemies and destroyed by other civilizations. After all, the gap between species of civilized creatures on two different planets may be as big as the gate or even the realm level, and the gap in technology is even greater than the gap between industrial civilization and agricultural civilization..."

The dialect flowed freely, but was also spoken with some reserve.

“This may be the truth behind the Fermi paradox.”

Heinlein was deeply shocked and wanted to share it with Arthur Clarke who was recuperating in England as soon as possible.

"Indeed, Fang's theory is the best and most logical explanation of the Fermi Paradox so far!"

Isaac Asimov's eyes were full of admiration.

Osoncard and others tried to find flaws, but they also felt that it made sense. They were speechless for a moment and felt mixed emotions.

Fang Yan smiled and said, "I am also absorbing the essence of your 'natural enemy theory', 'resource sieve theory', 'communication barrier theory', and 'lurker theory'."

Isaac Asimov said: "You could write at least a science fiction novel based on this inference!"

Heinlein vowed, "If it is really published, I will buy it as soon as possible and recommend it to Clarke and others!"

Seeing the little smugness that Fang Yan could hardly conceal between his eyebrows, Lin Qingxia smiled faintly from the bottom of her heart. (End of this chapter)