[ExI] fermi paradox just got worse

[spike at rainier66.com]

From: extropy-chat <extropy-chat-bounces at lists.extropy.org> On Behalf Of John Clark via extropy-chat
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QWEN AI: Even if a small, cheap probe successfully reaches an exoplanet 1,000 light-years away, how does it report back?

 

>…Why does it need to report back? 

 

John K Clark

 

 

It doesn’t need to report back necessarily, but one might reasonably argue it needs to stop at the end of the journey, or at least slow enough to drop into orbit of the target star.  This is a lot harder to do than to accelerate to .001c.

 

If we have full Drexlerian nanotech, a reflective sheet can be constructed sufficiently thin to use radiation pressure to achieve both the acceleration here and deceleration there, but it takes exceedingly advanced technology.  I am convinced to my satisfaction that carbon-based brains are not smart enough to do it, but silicon-based minds, maybe.  It isn’t clear that silicon based minds are ambitious however.

 

This lack of ambition is perhaps a way to explain Fermi’s inquiry: intelligent life forms advance until they lose the desire to conquer the galaxy.

 

spike

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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