[ExI] upon pondering your next million years

[spike]

________________________________

 [mailto:extropy-chat-bounces at lists.extropy.org] On Behalf Of Mike Dougherty
	Subject: Re: [ExI] upon pondering your next million years
	
	On Sun, Jul 13, 2008 at 5:15 PM, spike <spike66 at att.net> wrote:
	

		My challenge to you ExI-chatsters: define in your own words
a Matrioshka Brain...


	Matrioshka Brains are like onions.... Onions have layers.
	
	(I'd wager that those who can follow past this point are already
familiar with the key concepts and require little more explanation, and
the rest won't understand it no matter how succinct or clever the
description)
	

I disagree Mike.  Imagine a smart transhumanist-oriented person who has
heard the term but never knew what it meant, such as Melanie Swan.  I would
try thus:

A Matrioshka Brain is an enormous parallel computer made up of a very large
number of nodes that orbit individually around a star.  Each node collects
solar energy, performs calculations and communicates with adjacent nodes.
The Matrioshka terminology suggests solid shells within shells, but rather
the M-Brain consists of individual unconnected nodes, orbiting at different
distances from the star in what are actually an enormous number of
concentric rings of nodes rather than shells.

Something like that.  If offering this at a transhumanist party, I would try
to recite the definition with an airy Sagan-esque accent for effect.

spike