Book Review. The Night Woods (2008)

This mass is the minute mass inwards the trilogy titled "Remembrance of Earth's Past" past times Liu Cixin. I had reviewed the start mass inwards the series, "The Three Body Problem", earlier. 

I had listened to this mass every bit audiobook. The reader of the audiobook, the voice-actor, was real competent, in addition to besides remarkably adept inwards speaking inwards accents. This made the already engaging even out to a greater extent than captivating.

As inwards the start book, this mass besides introduces novel concepts. The Dark Forest theory is one. The theory posits that the universe is similar a night forest, where everybody is out at that spot to hunt anybody. Due to chain-of-suspicion, a civilisation tin never survive sure enough of an alien civilization's truthful intentions.
The extreme distances betwixt stars creates an insurmountable "chain of suspicion", where whatever 2 civilizations cannot communicate good plenty to dissipate mistrust, making conflict inevitable. Leaving a primitive civilisation lone is non an selection due to the exponential progress of technological change, in addition to a civilisation you lot receive got detected mightiness easily surpass your ain technological degree inwards a few centuries in addition to larn a threat. If you lot receive got detected a civilization, in addition to then you lot receive got besides confirmed that said civilisation volition eventually survive able to uncovering you. Therefore, it is inwards every civilization's best involvement to preemptively bang in addition to destroy whatever developing civilisation before it tin larn a threat, but without revealing their ain place to the wider universe, hence explaining the Fermi paradox.
This is real much the coordinating assault problem inwards distributed systems. Two generals volition assault a city. Only if they assault together, they volition receive got victory. If exclusively 1 political party attacks, in addition to the other political party does non join, the assaulter volition survive defeated/destroyed. The 2 generals endeavour to coordinate this assault past times talking to each other via messengers, which may survive captured past times the city. When the channel is arbitrarily lossy, 2 parties cannot solve the consensus work inwards a deterministic mode for all cases. Chain-of-suspicion arises.
  1. When you lot larn my message, you lot know my vote, but I don't know you lot know. So you lot mail me a message dorsum to coordinate the attack, because you lot suspect that if I don't know you lot know, I won't bring together you lot inwards the attack.  
  2. When I larn your message, I know that you lot know my vote. But I cannot commit on this, because you lot don't know that "I know that you lot know" (because the message may receive got been lost). So I suspect that because of this lack of information, you lot won't bring together me inwards the attack. So I mail you lot a message back. 
  3. When you lot larn my message, you lot know that I know that you lot know my vote. But you lot realize that I don't know that "you know that I know that you lot know my vote". Then you lot suspect that nether this condition, I may non bring together you lot inwards the assault in addition to you lot volition larn destroyed past times the enemy attacking lone .So you lot mail me a message back.
  4. When I larn your message, I know that you lot know that I know that you lot know my vote. But I realize that you lot don't know this: "I know that you lot know that I know that you lot know my vote", in addition to I suspect you lot won't bring together me inwards the assault due to this lack of information. So I necessitate to mail you lot a message. 
(And this is when the generals were non Byzantine. With Byzantine participants, things larn fifty-fifty to a greater extent than hairy.) This chain of suspicion makes consensus/cooperation impossible. However, it should survive noted that these are theoretical impossibilities in addition to has restrictions: such every bit using deterministic protocol. The reality is non this bleak. In practise nosotros solve the coordinated assault work every fourth dimension nosotros flora a TCP connection. I had written something on this before.


This mass picks upwards from where the start mass has left. The setup is that Trisolarans tin observe, through sophons, whatever visual in addition to good activity inwards the world, in addition to fifty-fifty anything written to whatever electronic storage. The exclusively affair they cannot observe is what goes on inwards human's brains. (What an interesting setup... I suspect the calculator safety researchers would appreciate this setup fifty-fifty more.) This led the basis to take away wallfacers, the keepers of plans known exclusively to themselves, who are granted total access to the resources of the UN. Another interesting twist was that the Trisolaran guild does non receive got whatever distinction betwixt communication in addition to thinking, every bit their thinking is opaque. So they were initially unfamiliar amongst lying in addition to deception. I idea the mass could receive got developed on this to a greater extent than but this didn't railroad train every bit much I idea it could be.

Other interesting concepts include the droplet from Trisolarans, the hibernation to motion inwards fourth dimension toward doomsday battle, in addition to the mental seal machine.

It was a long mass but real interesting in addition to real engaging. I actually similar Liu Cixin's writing. Of course of didactics the protagonists in addition to most of the primary characters are Chinese, because Liu is Chinese in addition to is writing for a Chinese audience primarily. After all nosotros receive got seen many many many AngloSaxon/Western heroes inwards the literature in addition to media, in addition to of course of didactics Chinese protagonists receive got every correct to salvage the public themselves. I welcome that. But unfortunately I started seeing Chinese authorities party-lines seeping into the book's narrative. The start mass had stroke a balanced tone amongst honor to this (especially amongst its discussion/coverage of the cultural revolution), but inwards this book, particularly inwards the minute part, at that spot are undertones of propaganda. The mass discusses why it is of import to survive cold-blooded pragmatists in addition to how totalitarianism is real efficient to bargain amongst crisis situations, etc. I but started the 3rd mass inwards the series, in addition to I uncovering that at that spot is fifty-fifty to a greater extent than propaganda inwards that book. But, of course, that won't halt me from reading in addition to enjoying the book.

I similar these mass serial because it sets the perspective to a broad perspective: the infinite infinite versus the marble sized earth. It is a shame nosotros are non thinking to a greater extent than near space, in addition to establishing space-fairing civilizations. When I was growing upwards inwards Turkey, I had a real exaggerated stance of Turkey. For me it was the entire world. I idea its institutions in addition to its politicians were of import in addition to powerful, in addition to the ability struggles at that spot were consequential. When I traveled to the U.S.A. for graduate studies, I real speedily realized how express that worldview that was. Similarly, earth-centric thinking is real limited, but nosotros are real dull to realize this. 

In the book, all the projects are all planned ahead for the iv centuries to come. But you lot tin appreciate that although our fourth dimension is but but a picayune sliver of fourth dimension inwards that timeline, the actions nosotros receive got are of import enablers in addition to start steps for the centuries downward the line. So yes, I actually enjoyed the big perspective thinking this leads to, in addition to I mean value nosotros should endeavour to expose ourselves to this type of thinking to interruption costless of our real express perspective inwards price of fourth dimension in addition to space. 

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