[ExI] Meat v. Machine

[Eugen Leitl]

On Thu, Dec 30, 2010 at 02:26:31PM -0800, Samantha Atkins wrote:

> Why should a civilization that can redesign most 
> any aspect of itself and its surroundings remain 

Because they're legion. And collectively, they have
no choice at all.

Why are you not a billionaire, and not funding your
own space ventures? In theory, that option is open
to anyone. In practice, the dice fall decides.

> darwinian?   Such a civ may have things to do that 
> it considers more interesting than endlessly expanding 

Those, who chose to do that, remain at home. They'll
never get out, and change the face of the universe.
Only the other ones matter. 

> in space.     It is not terribly likely that another 
> species in full expansionist mode would have better 

The expansionists are only a "problem" if you're not
yet there (so you never come into being) or you're
not yet expansive. The latter is unlikely, and is
just tough luck. The pioneers don't know you're there, 
and they're likely too dumb to do much about it,
even if they knew.

> enough technology to be a serious threat.  

When the pioneer wavefronts clash, they're no danger
to each other. Even in the successor waves the variation
is high enough that there's no difference between the
native and the alien. It's pretty much the same thing.

-- 
Eugen* Leitl <a href="http://leitl.org">leitl</a> http://leitl.org
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