[ExI] Virtual Reality is where the aliens are

[Keith Henson]

On Tue, Aug 25, 2015 at 5:00 AM,  "spike" <spike66 at att.net> wrote:

> -----Original Message-----
> From: extropy-chat [mailto:extropy-chat-bounces at lists.extropy.org] On Behalf
> Of Keith Henson
> ...
>>>... The reason I focus on your comment is not to strain at gnats BillK,
>> but rather because I have really been pondering how to calculate
>> temperature gradients in an MBrain using entropy.
>
>>...  But I suspect that on a large scale, you can't do better than whatever
> limit is set by computer sandwiched between a sunlight converter surface and
> a radiator.
>
> Ja.  The notion of required low-entropy energy reflection is based on an
> assumption of passive cooling only, with no fluid flow heat transfer.
> Robert never liked that idea, for he was a big fan of (or believer in)
> strong nanotech.

You lost me there.  The computation between the light receiving side
and the radiator side can be anything from Apple IIs to the most
advanced nanotech based computers possible without affecting the
fundamental physics.  That is set by the Stefan–Boltzmann law.

I have been using a 20 kW/person power consumption for million to one
faster uploaded humans.  Powered by sunlight at more or less one AU,
that's about 20 square meters per simulation or 50,000 per square km.
The problem is that you can't talk to those further than about 300
meters away without (subjectively) long communication delays due to
speed of light.  That gives you a communicating social group of about
4500 simulated fast humans that you could "talk" to with a round trip
communication delay of 2 seconds.  For one day (newspaper) comm
delays, the group size increases by (24 x 60 x 60)^2 or about 400
million.  For a week (magazines) the group size goes up by a factor of
50.  But if you want telephone type communications with millions of
people, this kind of Mbrain won't do it.

> I would like to accept the notion, but I had in mind a
> device which could produce MBrain nodes using current or almost current
> technology.  If Skylon flies, we could start launching them in our
> lifetimes.

I am hard pressed to figure out why we would want to do this.

> Robert might argue that the MBrain concept depends on strong nanotech and
> perhaps strong AI, but I have envisioned an MBrain concept which could
> predate both, or could exist even if some unknown-unknown makes strong AI
> and strong nanotech impossible.
>
>>...I wonder if it would be useful to set up a Skype chat room to discuss
> these problems?  Keith
>
> Perhaps, but having everything in text has its advantages too.

You can run Skype in IRC mode and get text.

Keith

> spike
>
>
>
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