Author Topic: The Great Filter  (Read 1652 times)

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Optimator

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The Great Filter
« on: March 10, 2009, 08:20:49 AM »
Here is an interesting (in my opinion) read on the subject of space colonization and potential alien life.  I found it by going through a ton of the sci-fi related tropes, particularly things like Absent Aliens and Precursors.  For some reason I really like the idea that humans are the precursor race.  That would be kinda fun.  I personally am quite optimistic about humanity's future, so this article/paper was quite the eye-opener for me.  Also, I ended up looking at the somewhat depressing Fermi Paradox.  Crazy shit.  Anyway, I just thought I'd share these.

PhaedrusXY

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Re: The Great Filter
« Reply #1 on: March 10, 2009, 06:10:43 PM »
It is a very interesting subject that I've given considerable thought to. I wrote a short story (unpublished) from the perspective of one member of an advanced race that had passed the point of interstellar dispersal. I think what we'd think of as "machine" intelligence is likely to be the next step in the evolution of "life". Intelligent machines would just be much more hardy and capable of surviving the rigors of interstellar travel, as well as more capable of being "uploaded" into new bodies when the old ones wear out, and I see no physical limits that should prevent its development.

They would also be effectively immortal, since they could be uploaded into new bodies, and they'd be able to "travel" at the speed of light (or perhaps instantaneously via quantum entanglement) by just sending the information content of their minds to be "uploaded" into a newly constructed body at a distant site. Being effectively immortal and not being permanently trapped in one body would alter the outlook and psychology of such races so much that it is hard to even fathom how they'd think.

And finally, they'd be capable of extremely rapid evolution, since they could aggressively try new designs without destabilizing their populations through attrition due to inferior "mutations". The books "Beyond AI" and "The Singularity is Near" are expositions on especially this aspect, though I haven't read the last one (yet).

So yeah, I think we're probably destined to become squishy relics of the past, once the super-intelligent machines take over. Hopefully they'll keep us around for sentimental (or other) reasons. ;)
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Optimator

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Re: The Great Filter
« Reply #2 on: March 11, 2009, 02:22:51 AM »
Yeah, the Technological Singularity is a pretty depressing subject too...   :(

I'd like to think that all the worry about stuff like that is analogous to people thinking the end of the world was nigh during the Black Death.  I'm sure there are other examples where many people thought we were done for but I'm not too keen on history these days.  We've been through a lot of bad stuff and we're still kicking, so it is my belief that we can make it through future problems too.  Every day that a comet doesn't strike, our technology improves making future collisions less of a concern.  The longer it takes for a disaster to strike the more prepared we'll be for it, you know?  It sounds pretty religious now that I'm typing it out, but I have faith.

To be honest, I think our biggest threat is ourselves.  The most-likely culprits would be war and ecosystem collapse, in my not-particularly-professional opinion.  Either us, or a supervolcano.  That shit would be baaad--I live pretty close to Yellowstone :bigeye.  Wasn't the human bottleneck caused by some Indian supervolcano? 

I have a lot of faith in the ability of humanity to survive a catastrophe, but the concern is civilization surviving, huh. 
« Last Edit: March 11, 2009, 02:37:31 AM by Optimator »

veekie

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Re: The Great Filter
« Reply #3 on: March 11, 2009, 03:35:14 PM »
We need to get to the point where we can create a sustainable ecosystem then, even a basic one, so we can get off this rock. All the eggs in one basket and all that.
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