Where does “dark forest hypothesis” come from?
dark forest hypothesis (English) comes from English hypothesis, from Middle French hypothese, from Latin hypothesis, from Ancient Greek ὑπόθεσις, from Ancient Greek ὑποτίθημι, from Ancient Greek ὑπο-, from Ancient Greek ὑπό, from Proto-Indo-European upó.
dark forest hypothesis (English): A proposed explanation for the Fermi paradox that suggests extraterrestrial civilizations are abundant but remain silent and hidden, positing that any intelligent civilization views others as potential threats and thus actively avoids revealing itself
Definitions
- A proposed explanation for the Fermi paradox that suggests extraterrestrial civilizations are abundant but remain silent and hidden, positing that any intelligent civilization views others as potential threats and thus actively avoids revealing itself
Ancestry of “dark forest hypothesis”, step by step
dark forest hypothesis traces back through 3 separate lines of ancestry.
via English hypothesis
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | hypothesis | Used loosely, a tentative conjecture explaining... |
| 2 | Middle French | hypothese | hypothesis |
| 3 | Latin | hypothesis | hypothesis |
| 4 | Ancient Greek | ὑπόθεσις | proposal, proposed action; policy, intention;... |
| 5 | Ancient Greek | ὑποτίθημι | I set before, suggest; put down, pledge; to... |
| 6 | Ancient Greek | ὑπο- | under, sub-, hypo-; denoting a small degree,... |
| 7 | Ancient Greek | ὑπό | |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | upó | under, below |
| 9 | Proto-Indo-European | h₃ewp- | — |
via English dark
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | dark | Having an absolute or relative lack of light;... |
| 2 | Middle English | derk | dark |
| 3 | Old English | deorc | dark |
| 4 | Proto-West Germanic | derk | dirty; dark |
| 5 | Proto-Germanic | derkaz | — |
| 6 | Proto-Indo-European | dʰerg-o-s | — |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | dʰerg- | to dim, darken; dim, dull; dark, dusky |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | dʰer- | to support; to hold |