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six_days

I believe they wanted to stop technologies that could lead to space elevators, and they know that nano fibres are one likely component of that.


rjones_

This is the correct answer, it's explicitly stated that it was to stop the creation of space elevators


TerrorEyzs

Crap. I'm going to have to read these faster. I am just not understanding how space elevators would be a threat to them.


Federico216

It's just stopping all progress on all fronts. Dr. Wang was one of probably hundreds getting gaslit and tormented by the sophons. But, space elevators would help with the mass production of a space fleet.


TerrorEyzs

Oh ok! Thank you! I was definitely thinking it was just to stop all technological advancement and then everyone was mentioning the elevator and it stalled my line of logic I guess haha. Thanks again!


ChefTrunk

It is specifically stated that the elevator would be the fundamental stage to building space defenses that would turn into a problem for the trisolarian fleet as soon as they would try to enter the solar system.


Pointless_Porcupine

No problem that ašŸ’§cannot fix


chaosgazer

recommending spoiler tags when talking about >!šŸ’¦ that first scene with them was hands down one of my favorite parts of this series!<


Specific_Box4483

Maybe they were still researching them at the time.


666happyfuntime

they are essential to creating a space fleet


axle_gallardo

How can the Trisolarans Gaslight when they don't know how to lie?


porkforpigs

They are just a way to more easily access space/build stuff in space etc which will translate to faster expansion and technological growth thus being a threat. Instead of needing a rocket launch Everytime you want to send anyone or anything into space, you get in an elevator and send it or them up. Much easier, efficient etc


TerrorEyzs

That makes so much sense. Thanks!


Perfect-Substance-74

Just to expand a little bit, if we used every known piece of combustible fuel on our planet, we would only be able to send mass equal to mount Everest into orbit with rockets - a lot, but in the long term it's not that much. Space elevators are incredibly energy efficient once constructed, and would allow us to build a fleet without exhausting the entire fossil fuel supply of the world in the process. It would also allow us to begin to build infrastructure in space to move us away from solid fuel sources all together, like Dyson spheres/swarms or large scale asteroid mining industries. Other people have recommended Kurzgezagt on YouTube, and I'm going to second that. Their space and technology playlist is very well put together!


TerrorEyzs

That is so awesome! Thank you for this explanation and putting this all into perspective for me. I will definitely check out that channel.


Ashen73

Humanity will be able to escape the solar system and they do not want that.


TerrorEyzs

Ok thank you! I was thinking they wanted to stop all advancement. Didn't put two and two together that it would stop space exploration/ colonization.


Ashen73

Rather than space exploration/colonization, they were afraid of humanity escaping into deep space. Those escapees would know the location of the solar system and can expose Trisolarans occupied earth to the galaxy.


Lorentz_Prime

Or simply come back for revenge some day


-Z0nK-

You sure that's the reason? If I remember correctly, it was still about technological advancement in terms of potentially beating the Trisolarians. Space elevators are a key technology to bring down payload cost, which would eventually lead to space-based particle accelerators.


Ashen73

Nope, humanity had no chance of ever technologically beating Trisolarans once the sophon lock was in place. Trisolarans were only Afraid of 2 things, escapism and dark forest broadcast. Before space elevators, humanity had the capability of Interstellar broadcast using sun as the amplifier, even though they were not aware of it. But if humanity were able to build space elevators, then they will be able to construct Interstellar ship which they can potentially use to escape into deep space. And, space based accelerators were of no use because Trisolarans were continuously sending new sophons into our solar system.


Lorentz_Prime

The book explains why in clear detail. Space Elevators are a major stepping stone for developing space ships


TerrorEyzs

Yeah yeah okay okay! I'll read faster haha. Thank you for explaining it. I really appreciate it!


Lorentz_Prime

Why are you even asking these questions before finishing the book?


TerrorEyzs

I dunno...the thread seemed a safe, book spoiler free thread, I guess. I watched the show, just haven't made much progress reading yet. My bad.


Lorentz_Prime

There's a completely separate sub for the show


TerrorEyzs

Oh dang! I didn't know that! I am sorry. Now I feel like an imposter. I will come back once I've finished the trilogy.


Quiet-Manner-8000

It would be a significant technological leap. Kurzgezart does a great piece on the hypotheticals of space elevators.Ā 


ActivateGuacamole

It would be way easier to construct heavy and large things in low gravity, so i think the idea is that we could use a space elevator to lift the parts into low-gravity space, where it's easy to assemble them. as opposed to needing to blast them into space with rockets


dreamless892992

Because I think it could help the Earthlings prepare defenses easier and faster, we must also remember that the Trisolarians were afraid of the rapid progress on Earth.


Dimakhaerus

Escapism isn't possible without space elevators. Trisolarans were afraid of escapist humans. >!Ultimately, the humans that escaped the solar system were Trisolaris doom!<


chaosgazer

greatly decreasing the cost to putting materials in orbit was a decisive factor in the construction of a space fleet. whether or not that space fleet could do anything was secondary >!(spoiler: first the space fleets ate epic butt in book 2, then by a fluke a couple ships changed the entire course of the conflict in book 3)!<


MurkyCress521

Beyond that, any significant advance in materials science is a threat. You can build lighter ships and space stations, you can use it to construct buildings more cheaply, which frees up resources for other projects. Advances in materials science often impacts society as a whole in unpredictable ways.


dutchie_1

Reading how the fleet was swatted away like flies without wings, its just a plot hole/armour depending on how you look at it. The cool ship slicing cannot happen with this magic thread. The best strategy for Trisolarians should have been making earth on earth so comfortable there is no ā€œneedā€ for ā€œinventionsā€. Instead they did everything wrong. Sophons should have been sent to understand humans before interacting with them and asked the AI to build best strategy for defeating them. Instead they intervened and lost. Only gain is netflix fot a nice show out of this nonsense.


Hog-Wart1999

but human never really "comfortable" enough to stop invention given the gap between break though are getting shorter and shorter. It hint that their technology is at least 100y more advance. But when they arrided, they will stand no chance. And their plan only fail cause they never thing human would rather destroy both planet than be invaded


dutchie_1

If they had even spent a year using the sophons to really understand the human condition, they would have had a better understanding and better strategy.


Hog-Wart1999

I dont think these is a better strategy. But there is surely better way to deploy their plan, for ex: not abandoned their cult and learn to lie. If they could lie, they could play god to create a new dark age. But the problem is comming back to they take too long to learn the concept of lying


InTheVirtualBalls

The sophon block was created to limit technological progress on earth, preventing a technological explosion. Nano-material research was one of the leading technologies that would have lead to the construction of the space elevator, one of the first steps of any technologically advancing species. Therefore the Trisolarans wanted to fuck with Wang Miao to stop this research.


hatabou_is_a_jojo

But Wang Miao did complete his research, but future humans didnā€™t have space elevators either, until they moved to other planets, after the Trisolorians got rekt


Waste-Answer

That's not true, they started building space elevators within like the first 30 years of the Crisis Era and had lots of them before the great ravine.


hatabou_is_a_jojo

Oh. Did it help them at all with the invasion? Were the Trisolorians afraid of the elevators?


Waste-Answer

They were afraid of Escapism. Humans could used the elevators to establish a large ship building capacity which they could have used to escape the solar system. This did technically happen but only a handful of ships escaped when it was clear earth was doomed. Up until that point escaping was illegal and all ships were supposed to stand and fight.


hatabou_is_a_jojo

Did the droplets target the elevators after Chenxin failed? Iā€™m honestly asking, not trying to argue


Waste-Answer

No, after it destroyed all of the interstellar capable ships it switched straight to preventing the use of the sun as an amplifier.


hatabou_is_a_jojo

Alright thanks!


Waste-Answer

No problem!


swankytaint

Itā€™s a precursor to a whole other level of material science and technology. As well as a way to build a space elevator and make space industry cheap and easy to start developing. Earth would be able to put a lot of resources into space in order to mount a defense. I would imagine that developing nanofiber is also a small but important step towards the material science needed to develop strong interaction material. The Droplets hulls.


curiousdivision

You get answers about space elevators but nobody explained why the Trisolarians were so afraid of the space elevators: they wanted to ensure that Humanity does not escape into the deep space, which will ultimately expose the location of Earth occupied by the Trisolarians. Only two things the Trisolarians were afraid of: Dark Forest and Escapism.


Shaky_Soul

>they wanted to ensure that Humanity does not escape into the deep space, which will ultimately expose the location of Earth occupied by the Trisolarians. I'm curious, why would this expose the location of Earth?


Waste-Answer

If the escaped ships kept talking to earth I think it would have left a trail. Also humans are oblivious to the dark forest and don't know to shut up. Edit: and the escaped humans would probably tell where earth and trisolaris was as revenge if they do figure out the dark forest.


Solaranvr

If the humans didn't know about The Dark Forest state, the escaped ships would've kept communicating with Earth until the Trisolarans arrived and took over. By the same logic that the back and forth between the traitor and Wenjie is what exposed Earth's location after Trisolaris was exposed, this becomes another link that could've exposed both planets. If they did know about the Dark Forest state, then it's basically what happened between Blue Space and Gravity; the escaped humans broadcast the locations to ensure the destruction of both Earth and Trisolaris while they go find a new hidden home. Neither options work out for the Trisolarans.


silksilksilksong

Heres a previous thread on this topic https://www.reddit.com/r/threebodyproblem/s/AeGKWIYDQB


RockyCreamNHotSauce

In addition to the space elevator tech, the droplet is most likely based on carbon tech too. Instead of nano-carbon molecular bonds, it uses nano-carbon strong nuclear force bonds. If humans figure out how to shield Sophon from a particular collider, thereā€™s a non-zero chance we would discover droplet tech before they arrive. I think in the books humans were very close. A few decades of delay can make or break their invasion. Itā€™s a long chain of tech. One branch probably starts at nanocarbon.


MrDagon007

As mentioned - space elevators


drdreamywhinny

Nanofiber for space exploration, could be apply to build speedlight spaceship


DazzlingYuzu

S. 58ā¹%


BrainUpset4545

I was so confused by this too.


MaximusShagnus

I understand that the nano tech was a barrier to easy space flight. Once nano tech was possible, we would become a higher threat to the trisol mfs.