[ExI] Are Dyson swarms a good idea?

[Ben Zaiboc]

On 27/01/2026 11:37, John K Clark wrote:
> On Mon, Jan 26, 2026 at 4:20 PM Ben Zaiboc via extropy-chat <extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org> wrote:
>
>     > My answer is that either the probes don't exist yet (but they will) or they do exist, and are still on their way. And if any constructions exist already that will be visible across the galaxy, they are just too recent for us to see them yet.
>
>
> I agree. And another way of saying exactly the same thing just using different words is "The big bang happen 13.8 billion years ago but Earth creatures were the very first to develop intelligence in the entire observable universe; with "intelligence" operationally defined as the ability to make a radio telescope". 


Ok, I think we're splitting hairs now.

My main objection was to the idea of us being the /only/ intelligent life. I don't think there's any way to reasonably conclude this, certainly not at the present time, and maybe never. It's something that can only be disproved.

Saying we are 'the first' is pretty meaningless, given what Einstein has to say about the universe. We can say we are the first here, and someone else can say they are the first wherever they are. We will both be correct.
"The very first ... in the observable universe" is true, as long as you realise that it ignores the fact that we can't see most of the universe, for most of time so far. And that will always be true.

The Fermi paradox, as far as I can see, has no validity at all because it fails to consider this. It's difficult for creatures that are evolved to cope with life on the scale of metres and seconds, to even think coherently about a scale of light-years and aeons (or to properly understand that 'simultaneous' is meaningless on cosmic scales when there are two or more observers). Which makes me wonder what else we are misunderstanding.

-- 
Ben