cosmic sociology
First appears in Book 2: The Dark Forest, chapter 1 (Prologue)
Appearances
B1
B2
B3
What you know
Book 2: The Dark Forest
- Ch 1Cosmic sociology studies the nature of the supersociety formed by the vast number of civilizations in the universe; it would be purely theoretical, built from axioms like Euclidean geometry.
- Ch 1Ye Wenjie gives two axioms: survival is civilization's primary need; civilization grows and expands while total matter in the universe stays constant.
- Ch 1Distance filters out chaos and randomness in civilizations, which makes them mathematically manageable reference points like stars.
- Ch 4Its basis: distance filters out chaos so civilizations become mathematically manipulable points; two axioms plus chains of suspicion and technological explosion yield its picture.