[extropy-chat] In the Long Run, How Much Does Intelligence Dominate Space?

[Lee Corbin]

Russell writes

> > More seriously, however, I posit the following structure to a
> > mature galaxy: ...

> Mostly seems plausible enough... Except for one quibble: 

> > 2. assuming that this radius is on the order of a light year
> >    then (following Dyson and Bradbury), stars are shrouded to 
> >    extract maximum energy, or (Criswell) stars are altered
> >    to maximize long term gain, or (me) stars are novaed to
> >    get the mostest soonest (why waste resources on the
> >    future, anyway?  seems to me to be a characteristic idea 
> >    of humans who are familiar with very limited tech)

> Nova'd? Assuming you can do it (collide enough suns and I suppose
> you'll get something that'll go boom),

Well, I figure if Criswell can figure out a way to actually
*lift* star matter (!), then get it to go bang should be
comparatively simple.


>  that a) wastes 99 point yea nines percent of the energy,
> and b) kills you with rad damage so you waste the rest too.

Oh!  I was not intending to do this anytime soon. But not
millions of years either.  We should do it as soon as we
have all uploaded, and the really smart types running our
Dyson sheaves know they can capture all the energy. (I
admit that this may turn out to not be possible, but we
shouldn't get too deeply into the habit of ruling out
possibilities that AIs may consider---unless, of course,
we understand the physics so well that, like traveling
faster than light, it just doesn't make any sense at all
to suppose that it could ever be done.)

Actually, I was supposing that it would be the compulust
of the really smart types who are running the solar system
by then who'd be all in favor of the big bang. They probably
want to know things so badly that they are getting really
impatient with the slow (to them) speeds of ergs/second
coming out of the sun.

> Don't see the gain there even if you don't care about the future.
> (And hey, weren't you the one going I'm going to live a trillion
> years,

And just why not?   :-)

> better make plans for that? Aren't you the one who ought to care
> about the future?)

Yes, up to the chance that I can partake, and yes, also out of
some residual loyalty to the human race, my family, nation, etc.,
and other outmoded loyalties in the age of individualism.

Lee