[ExI] Are Dyson swarms a good idea?

[John Clark]

On Mon, Jan 26, 2026 at 11:48 AM Jason Resch via extropy-chat <
extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org> wrote:

*>> computational capacity takes energy and I don't think you can ever have
>> too much of that. And I do not believe I am the only mind in the observable
>> universe that holds that opinion. If intelligent life is common then
>> somebody somewhere is going to decide to make a certain machine that has a
>> mass of only 10^-12 grams. And it would only take one guy. So why don't we
>> see any evidence of that? The answer is obvious. *
>>
>

*> Could it be that these superintelligences:*
> *Converge on a common agreement of how much to interfere with the rest of
> the galaxy?*
>

*No, it could NOT be that EXACTLY 100% of the trillion quadrillion minds in
the observable universe are in agreement that a self replicating machine
that has a mass of only 10^-12 grams and is capable of making Dyson Spheres
should not be made because I know for a fact there is at least one mind
that disagrees. *


> *> Could one or more elder post-singular intelligences already be present
> in every star system and enforce some kind of galactic law?*


*I don't know what you mean by "galactic law", but whatever it is I know it
won't be capable of overruling the laws of physics.  *

*> Could such superintelligences find ways of computing with near zero
> energy loss, or use black holes as heat sinks, or find a loophole for free
> energy,*
>

*I like what Arthur Eddington said about the most important natural law of
all, the Second Law Of Thermodynamics:*

*“The law that entropy always increases holds, I think, the supreme
position among the laws of Nature. If someone points out to you that your
pet theory of the universe is in disagreement with Maxwell's equations -
then so much the worse for Maxwell's equations. If it is found to be
contradicted by observation - well, these experimentalists do bungle things
sometimes. But if your theory is found to be against the Second Law of
Thermodynamics I can give you no hope; there is nothing for it to collapse
in deepest humiliation.”*

*  John K Clark*



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>>>> *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*
>>>>
>>> -
>>>
>> __
>
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