>>12826356"The universe is a dark forest. Every civilization is an armed hunter stalking through the trees like a ghost, gently pushing aside branches that block the path and trying to tread without sound. Even breathing is done with care. The hunter has to be careful, because everywhere in the forest are stealthy hunters like him. If he finds another life—another hunter, angel, or a demon, a delicate infant to tottering old man, a fairy or demigod—there's only one thing he can do: open fire and eliminate them. In this forest, hell is other people. An eternal threat that any life that exposes its own existence will be swiftly wiped out. This is the picture of cosmic civilization."
>>12826359It could make sense in a pure lightspeed-travel universe. Detect some life on a planet? Send a cheap lightspeed projectile to make their sun go nova and kill off the planet. Cleans out your local group in a few millenia, and you get to enjoy all the resources without competition.
