[ExI] Are Dyson swarms a good idea?

[BillK]

On Mon, 26 Jan 2026 at 12:17, John Clark <johnkclark at gmail.com> wrote:

> On Sun, Jan 25, 2026 at 5:32 PM BillK via extropy-chat <
> extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org> wrote:
>
> *> I asked Claude Opus 4,5 - Will all advanced civilizations build a Dyson
>> swarm around their star? Claude suggested that this idea could be a
>> mistaken projection of 20th-century ideas onto the cosmos.*
>
>
> *I don't find any of Claude's excuses to explain the embarrassing fact
> that astronomers have never seen anything like a Dyson sphere to be
> persuasive. If intelligent life is common in the observable universe I
> simply don't believe that not one of the trillion quadrillion minds in that
> universe thought it would be a good idea to make a 10^-12 gram self
> duplicating machine that is capable of making a Dyson Sphere, lots of them.
> Hell, I am a mind in the observable universe and if I had the ability to
> make such a machine I certainly would, and I don't think I'm unique.  *
> *<snip>*
>

> * John K Clark*
>
----------------------------------------------------------


Claude's main point is that Dyson swarms are 20th-century technology.
That's what we know, so that's what we design.
The proposal is to spend centuries dismantling *a whole planet* and
building an unbelievable giant Lego construction kit around our star.
We monkeys are really smart! (sarc).

By the time such a world-scale project could be contemplated and funded,
every nation will have miniature stars in fusion reactors producing more
energy than they can use.

Claude's speculation about other possible future energy sources is a
reminder that we don't know what is coming as AI continues to develop. (And
neither does Claude).

We don't need to be surprised that other advanced civilizations haven't
built Dyson swarms around their stars. We won't either, after AGI stops
laughing at the suggestion.

BillK
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