The Dark Forest Anthology
11 foundational essays marking a pivotal change in how we exist together online.
The Dark Forest Anthology of the Internet
Contributions by: Yancey Strickler (Kickstarter/Metalabel); Venkatesh Rao (Ribbonfarm); Maggie Appleton; Peter Limberg & Rebecca Fox (The Stoa); Joshua Citarella (Do Not Research); Arthur Röing Baer & GVN908 (Moving Castles); Leïth Benkhedda (DNR, Trust, New Models); and Caroline Busta & Lil Internet (New Models).
2024, Dark Forest Collective via Metalabel, 208 p.
If you're reading this, you likely need no introduction to the concept of the "dark forest"—the un-indexed realm of the internet, where it's possible to interact outside the so-called physics of Web 2.0. Either way, this 208-page collection of 11 key essays on the subject, plus a benediction by SciFi writer Cixin Liu, provides the canonical discourse for a pivotal turning point in how we exist together online. [more info]
The Dark Forest Anthology of the Internet is a 208-page book that documents five tumultuous years when we learned how to live, create, and conspire on an increasingly adversarial internet. The original “Dark Forest Theory of the Internet” essay was published by Yancey Strickler in a private newsletter sent to 500 readers. The post struck a chord and became widely shared, with hundreds of thousands of readers in the following weeks. The concept of the Dark Forest captured a feeling and sense of danger online that an increasing number of people shared. In the years following, some of the most influential voices on the web and in culture built on, argued with, and expanded the original Dark Forest concept. The Dark Forest Anthology of the Internet brings those disparate pieces together into a canon of thought that defines a specific era of the internet.