[extropy-chat] MBRAIN: Imaging the universe, NOT

[Mike Lorrey]

--- "Robert J. Bradbury" <bradbury at aeiveos.com> wrote:> 
> So I would not view Seth's comments as a complete show-stopper. 
> There are a range of capabilities one would like to have -- 
> detection of volcanoes, detection of forest fires, detection of
> large buildings, detection of atmospheric pollutants (e.g. CFCs),
> detection of the construction of "hot" MBrains in close stellar
> orbits, etc.  Seth's points do however lead one to a conclusion
> that it may be relatively difficult for ATC to read the license
> plates on distant planets.  But I can live with that.

Yes, but his example was ONLY imagining the issues to image out to 50
ly. Going to 500 or 5000 light years puts an effective sphincter crimp
on even IR. Detecting non-natural pollutants like CFCs are one
possibility for specifically detecting a technological society, but the
problem with that is that if you wait until a species has developed
technology that is detectable on an interstellar scale like that, it is
already too late to do very much to stop them from messing up your
sandbox (if that is your motivation), or even, if they are more than a
century objective time away, from contacting them before they either
self-destruct or pass into singularity.

If that is the case, then Fermis paradox is very easily answered: we're
ringing their phones, but they haven't picked up the handset yet, and
its a waste of resources to mess around with any non-singularity
culture, so we are on call waiting until we cut the baby babble crap
and start holding up our end of the conversation.

Unfocused radio is all we can go on right now. Nobody is gonna point a
big comm laser our way for a while yet.

=====
Mike Lorrey
"Live Free or Die, Death is not the Worst of Evils."
                                       - Gen. John Stark
"Fascists are objectively pro-pacifist..."
                                       - Mike Lorrey
Do not label me, I am an ism of one...
Sado-Mikeyism: http://mikeysoft.zblogger.com

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