[ExI] for the fermi paradox fans

[Robin D Hanson]

I know that people often say things like this, but I think it gets the physics wrong. The real resource is negentropy. One just stores that in a form of free energy, but how many bits one can erase later with that negentropy doesn't depend on the temperature later, at least to first order. One will want to do reversible computing later, and that isn't necessarily much more efficient at lower temperatures.

On Jun 6, 2014, at 7:06 PM, Anders Sandberg <anders at aleph.se<mailto:anders at aleph.se>> wrote:
I also semi-believe in the Lovecraft Hypothesis (it is at least in my top three). My reason is the thermodynamics of computing: at least error correction requires kTln2 J per bit, which is proportional to temperature. The lowest temperature you can get today without expending energy on cooling is 3 K. Wait long enough and it will be much lower. So if you have X Joule of energy stored as mass, using them now will give you many orders of magnitude less than if you wait a trillion years. Eventually the temperature levels off due to horizon radiation, but that is very far ahead. So my idea is that the Great Old Ones are quietly sleeping until the stars are right (i.e. turned off).

Stephen Van Sickle <sjv2006 at gmail.com<mailto:sjv2006 at gmail.com>> , 5/6/2014 10:26 PM:

On Jun 5, 2014 11:01 AM, "Keith Henson" <hkeithhenson at gmail.com<mailto:hkeithhenson at gmail.com>> wrote:

> If I was forced to guess, I would say that hole is uploading and
> probably massive speeding up.

One possible twist on that:  after a geologically short period of time (10 minutes? 100 years?  A million?) of massively accelerated thought, the aliens have collected all the easily available data and thought about them deeply enough to realize this is a really boring epoch in the history of the universe.  Possible reasons for this range from a future phase change in the universe, to a timed vault containing the Archives of The Ones Who Created Us, to a massive beacon blaring "let's everyone meet up at +10^9 years for a Really Big Party".

Once they realized this this, the aliens (let's call them "The Great Old Ones") cover up any traces of their existence and go to "sleep" somewhere hidden and safe, like the bottom of a deep planetary ocean.  Naturally, anyone accidentally waking one would find it surly and rather hungry...

I call this the Lovecraft Hypothesis.  And despite the snark, I take it half seriously.  I think that there are reasons a being or civilization may want to massively slow its clock rate, and this supposition may provide testable predictions.


Anders Sandberg, Future of Humanity Institute Philosophy Faculty of Oxford University
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Robin Hanson  http://hanson.gmu.edu
Res. Assoc., Future of Humanity Inst., Oxford Univ.
Assoc. Professor, George Mason University
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