[ExI] Fermi question, was is a FTL drive a dream . . .

[Kelly Anderson]

On Tue, Dec 20, 2011 at 12:30 AM, Eugen Leitl <eugen at leitl.org> wrote:
> On Mon, Dec 19, 2011 at 05:22:42PM -0700, Keith Henson wrote:
>
>> 2)  Something removes intelligences from large scale interaction with
>> the universe.  I have theorized this might be the attractiveness of
>> virtual worlds or perhaps the speed of information propagation.  A
>
> There is nothing particularly virtual about hardware. It's large,
> bulky, and takes entire stars to power in sufficient quantities.
>
> The speed of information propagation is a red herring, because
> you're happy enough to interact mostly-locally. People got out
> of Africa on foot just fine, one band of primates by another.
>
> Would you say that seven billion people are pretty observable?
> This planet sure thinks so.
>
>> million to one speed up would limit interactive communication to a
>> distance much smaller than the earth.
>
> It takes too long to talk to somewhere more than a light seconds
> away? Don't do it, then! Just talk to people closer to you, and
> so will they, and so on.
>
> Why do you insist to talk at all, for that matter? Seeds are
> pretty inert. They never get bored, and sprout just fine on
> the other end of the journey.
>
>> 3)  Perhaps the most bizarre reason for the Fermi problem is the world
>> as we know it being a simulation.  There are probably ways to test for
>
> Yes, but this is religion. We don't do religion here.

I disagree. This is philosophy, not religion. And we do philosophy here. Nick
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simulation_argument

Peter Ludlow is also making some interesting forays into this from the
bottom up, so to speak
http://www.nuintel.net/features/between-two-worlds/

>> being in a simulation, but testing ends the simulation (and the
>> universe as we know it) so it might not be something you want to try.
>
> So the pesky rodents gets terminated when they get too uppity, and
> realize they've been living in cage #9?
>
> Occam sez: I will cut you.

Occam actually comes down on the side that we're already in a
simulation... if you really think about it hard enough.

-Kelly