(January 25, 2017 at 6:10 pm)Neo-Scholastic Wrote:(January 25, 2017 at 5:44 pm)Aoi Magi Wrote: Yes they might, but that doesn't really increase the chances of communication, rather as more civilizations destroy each other, communication possibilities will only go down.
Mutual Assured Destruction is the restraint. Otherwise, yes. Any reduction in the number of civilizations would reduce the chances of communication. Unless I suppose one benevolent civilization became dominant. It could encourage peaceful coexistence under threat of judgement and wrath. Hmmm...sounds familiar.
MAD presupposes communication, which over light-years is slow, tedious, and given the different technologies/bandwidths chosen by any given civilization, unlikely to be efficient enough to forestall aggressively defensive species. You can tell Mama Bear that you mean no harm to her cubs, but that grizzly will tear you apart all the same.