[ExI] Uploads as a group of AI agents

[Keith Henson]

On Sat, Mar 28, 2026 at 12:47 PM John Clark <johnkclark at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> On Sat, Mar 28, 2026 at 3:09 PM Keith Henson via extropy-chat <extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org> wrote:
>
>> > If there are aliens, it seems to me that they could have constructed a much larger data center in their home star system and not bothered to spread out.
>
> That doesn't explain why one ET hasn't sent out one Von Neumann probe.

Nope.  On the other hand, perhaps they think of themselves as Von
Neuman probes.  The evidence can be read that they are spreading at
1/3rd of c.

>> >  Communications between them [different uploaded civilizations or individuals around a star] would be (from their viewpoint) painfully slow.
>
>
> But also extremely information rich. The communication channel would have lots of latency but also contain lots of data, far far more than anything in biology.

True.  Only we don't see lasers, and the SETI people have not seen
anything in the radio spectrum.  If we wait a while, we might be able
to ask them.  The closest one of the stars that shows light dips is
511 ly.  We will know they are here when Vista is turned into a data
center unexpectedly.

Keith
> John K Clark
>
>
>
>
>
>
>>
>>
>> > How could the purported aliens around the Tabby stars have a single civilisation?
>>
>> They would not.  If the dipping stars are all the result of these
>> aliens, they have spread out around 1000 light-years (in a time the
>> AIs estimate at 3000 years), which would make their expansion around
>> 1/3 of c.  If their perception of time is close to ours, news from one
>> star to the next would be historical by the time it got from one star
>> to the next.
>>
>> > The answer is, given no breaking of known physics, they couldn't. Even running at slow speeds (which as you point out, seems very unlikely), the assemblies around different stars can't effectively communicate with each other in such a was as to maintain a cohesive civilisation (unless their psychology is very strange indeed), so they'd be several different ones.
>> >
>> > There's no reason this can't apply in a single solar system. Rather than aiming for a single civilisation with relatively quick communication speeds, you accept that there will be many different ones, each fairly independent, only communicating with each other at slow or extremely slow speeds (or not at all).
>> >
>> > I see nothing wrong with a Dyson swarm where the light-speed limit means that there are many many overlapping spheres of 'local influence', where the people in one sphere can communcate easily with each other, a bit less easily with people a bit farther away, etc. There would probably end up being gradual shifts in cultures with distance, making things much more varied and  interesting.
>> >
>> > Transmitting yourself to the other side of the solar system should still be possible, either directly or in a series of local hops, for the adventurous, and I can imagine that a commonly-agreed set of protocols could exist that would enable long-distance communication of things like technological advances, news, etc., in a series of ripples with many different sources.
>> >
>> > There could even be different cultures that run at different speeds, dictated by different availability of energy (maybe civilisations in data-centres out beyond the Oort cloud would run much more slowly than ones close in to the sun)
>>
>> Possibly.  I think the optimal place for an uploaded civilization is
>> way out from the habitat zone where the lower temperature reduces
>> computer error rates.
>>
>> But this is all speculation on speculation.  If there are aliens, it
>> seems to me that they could have constructed a much larger data center
>> in their home star system and not bothered to spread out.  Though who
>> knows, they might be trying to avoid all eggs in one basket.
>>
>> Keith
>> > --
>> > Ben
>> >
>> > _______________________________________________
>> > extropy-chat mailing list
>> > extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org
>> > http://lists.extropy.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/extropy-chat
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> extropy-chat mailing list
>> extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org
>> http://lists.extropy.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/extropy-chat