Hacker News new | ask | show | jobs
by reason-mr 1918 days ago
There is no reason to believe this model - the premise is pure conjecture. If I were engaging in pure conjecture - I might think equally, on the positive side, that all Aliens converge to the belief that all life is to be encouraged and supported, and turn into "meta-gardeners", seeding and encouraging life wherever they go.
1 comments

The point is that if grabby and gardener aliens exist, grabby aliens will dominate.

It's similar to the idea in evolution that we species that like to reproduce more than species that don't.

It is no means a foregone conclusion that grabby v. gardener => grabby wins.

Perhaps grabby aliens, a known menace to life in the universe, are systematically exterminated when they are identified by other aliens in the universe.

There are really strong implicit assumptions at play here. This is a very interesting thought experiment, and it's nice to see novel thinking in this area. It's important to recognize however, that this is not "logical" or a "forgone conclusion" in any meaningful or systematic way.

But in gardening, overinvasive species are weeds and they are removed by gardeners?
The gardener merely holds the weeds at bay for a while. Without constant upkeep, the weeds take over again.