> And we know civilizations can afford those because we can no longer see their stars.

That's a giant claim you just made like it's fact.

> That's a giant claim you just made like it's fact.

You are correct. That is absolutely a thing I did.

But it doesn't make any sense, given we do not have good evidence of alien civilizations, not to mention Dyson spheres.

> But it doesn't make any sense, given we do not have good evidence of alien civilizations, not to mention Dyson spheres.

Also correct. Even past that, we haven't been mass-cataloging stars long enough for a Dyson sphere to be constructed and remove a star from our view.

So why make the initial claim "And we know civilizations can afford those because we can no longer see their stars."? Is it humor or irony I'm missing?

The absurdity of it makes me happy.

Fair enough. Poisoning the well for giggles.

> Fair enough. Poisoning the well for giggles.

One man's poison is the same man's alcohol and mankind revolves around that.

It is especially big claim because there have been recent searches for Dyson Spheres and none of have been found. I think the Gaia spacecraft covered most of the visible half of the galaxy.

Dyson Spheres would be really obvious, emitting infrared radiation unlike normal stars.

I really liked Pandora's Star (The Commonwealth Saga) by Peter F. Hamilton.

> I really liked Pandora's Star (The Commonwealth Saga) by Peter F. Hamilton.

It looks promising; I'll check it out. Appreciate the recommendation.

Currently reading that. And I am trying like hell to figure out how all of the different stories will come back together.

Oh you are in for a treat. They don't fully finish in that book, for the conclusion you need high-octane Judas Unchained with the best inter- and then planetary chase scene. A great book with lovely twist in the end.

The flaw with your theory is Dyson Spheres don't hide the star. They convert visible light into infrared light. No energy conversion is perfect and always produces waste heat. Dyson Sphere basically looks like a really large star.

The infrared star stands out because it is different than normal stars.

> The flaw with your theory is Dyson Spheres don't hide the star. [follows with sound reasons]

These are really good points. I figured the flaw in my theory is we haven't had precision observation long enough for DS to get constructed. Also that if we noticed the disappearance of a star, that we'd attribute it to a DS and not some natural occluding object.