The book poses an interesting and difficult problem that characters try to solve in a variety of ways. The solution that actually works involves a bunch of plausible game theory and feels like it establishes a realistic theory of how a populous universe might work. The solutions that don’t work are clever, but fail for realistic reasons.
Aside from the puzzle element of the book, it’s not all that close to ratfic, but the puzzle is what compelled me. Certainly arguable whether it belongs in this category.
Can you give your view why The Dark Forest is an example of near rationalist work?
I guess it shows societal dysfunction, the (extreme) alienness or hostility of reality, and some intense applications of game theory.
I think I want to understand “rationality” as much as the book.
The book poses an interesting and difficult problem that characters try to solve in a variety of ways. The solution that actually works involves a bunch of plausible game theory and feels like it establishes a realistic theory of how a populous universe might work. The solutions that don’t work are clever, but fail for realistic reasons.
Aside from the puzzle element of the book, it’s not all that close to ratfic, but the puzzle is what compelled me. Certainly arguable whether it belongs in this category.