[extropy-chat] What Human Minds Will Eventually Do

[BillK]

On 7/2/06, Russell Wallace wrote:
<snip>
> A gram of smarts (enough for an entire upload civilization) in a hundred
> ton probe (you need the mass anyway for shielding and braking) is
> negligible baggage and more than pays for itself in ability to outthink and
> outfight a dumb probe that got there slightly before you did.
>
>  The exponent in the rocket equation (and similar terms in non-rocket means
> of transport) means ultra high speed probes take a lot of resources to
> launch. Long-range colonization is done by big power blocs, not
> lichen-equivalents.
>

Wait, slow down a minute.
If a gram of smarts is enough for an entire upload civilization, then
we won't be moving much outside our solar system.

Everyone can have their own virtual civilization to live and play in
and do whatever turns them on. Maybe spread out a bit to find a quiet
place for your gram, in case the sun goes red giant.

Remember that once we get our own gram of civilization each, our
motivations and knowledge are likely to greatly change. I doubt that
doing a Star Trek, conquer the universe will seem very attractive. If
you want to 'chat' to the other one gram civilizations (AIs) then you
certainly won't be dashing off at some fraction of light speed. The
loss of the network may well be much more painful than gaining a new
solar system to sit your gram in.


BillK