[ExI] endpoint of evolution

[Tom Nowell]

I've given it a little thought, and there's a few other galactic endpoints rather than the M-brain around every star.

The M-cloud - instead of layers of computronium with an ecology of data entities, a cloud of nanites/microbots each hosting a mind (or fraction/group thereof, depending on size and performance). This allows variety and flexibility, and allows greater room for territoriality and breaking free. It's a bit like the difference between huge algal mats covering earth's oceans and an ecology of plankton, krill and fish like have today.

Creating more universes - why stick with this one when you can create your own, or (borrowing from Greg Egan's Diaspora) migrate to others?

Inhabiting stars - OK, I'm borrowing from Baxter's SF here but there may be room to do this. At an extreme, there may be room for black-hole computing to support intelligence - instead of M-brains, minds being supported in the altered spacetime around a black hole.

Alternatively, there may be sound ecological reasons why progress to M-brains across the galaxy is not inevitable. Potential answers to the Fermi Paradox sketch out possibilities - Stanislaw Lem has a story where different civilisations have learnt how to manipulate the laws of physics, and the universe we see about us is a compromise designed to keep the big civilisations apart, and we're stuck in a no-man's land. 

Maybe M-brains are too prone to becoming inward-looking and ignoring the outside (I'm thinking the later portions of Accelerando here). Alternatively, maybe the Great Filter keeps smacking down civilisations before they become M-brains, and all you see are single star system civilisations popping up, looking around wondering "where is everyone?" and then disappearing into the night once more.

There's a lot of possibilities out there, each with their own logic.

Tom (stopping before Ben Zaiboc skips the overly long post)