Recently, I read a series of books named The Three-Body Problem, which gives rise to my thinking for the life, world, civilization and universe. Especially the second book, The Dark Forest, seems to reveal the essence of life and human civilization, which draws me into constant thinking and asking.

  The Dark Forest puts forward to three vital conceptions. The first one is that civilization's fundamental need is to survive, which I believe is the philosophical foundation of all three books. The second one is that civilization continues to grow and expand, but the total amount of matter in the universe remains unchanged. Because the total amount of matter never changes, in order to survive, civilization must expand to snatch limited resources. Date back to human history, there are so many examples. Prior to the foundation of the state, human beings, due to their limited capabilities, were usually divided into small tribes, but tribes were hardly able to keep lasting peace. Soon the relationship between them deteriorated, and then human beings fell into endless violence. It means that living in low productivity, human beings would be lost into the definite desperation, so that snatching other resources is an unrefusable choice. Violence is the only way to survive. Then here comes the third conception, the principle of The Dark Forest, which is to take the initiative. It means that the one who takes actions firstly holds the advanced choices about the time, place, subject they attack. In other words, taking the initiative means the higher rate of winning and surviving.

  After reading the book, I can't help thinking the universality of the principle of The Dark Forest in our real life. It is actually true and universal. For instance, in the era of information and technology big bang, the one who can seize the opportunities and take the initiative will achieve their goals. Alibaba and Apple are two typical examples. In the daily life, people who are proactive have the ability to control more things than others who always choose to receive results passively. As more choices they make, people will have apparently different life.

  However, there still are questions that I can not solve now. Is the conception that civilization's fundamental need is to survive universal? Afterall, in our values, quite a few things are beyond survival, such as love, faith and freedom, etc. Will our civilization continue to grow in the future? To be or not to be, that is a question.