Moore+Clarke+Fermi=?

It has been suggested that Moore's Law could hold for about 600 years before we hit the maximum amount of computability there is.

Clarke's Third Law says that "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic".

Fermi's Paradox asks "where the hell are all intelligent creatures of the universe?"

You know, 600 years to take on the entire universe is not a long time. In fact, it is a laughably short time. And, if there's any intelligent life anywhere else in the universe, wouldn't they have discovered it already, meaning that we would already be a part of a gigantic supercomputer? And would we even notice, if we were a part of it?

And if we're the first sentient beings to succeed in building a supercomputer the size of the universe, will it all end in a massive Bluescreen of Death in the year 2604?

Now there's something to lose your sleep over...



Comments

God?

--kaltsu, 10-May-2004

Bah. Deep Thought.

--J-Ko, 10-May-2004

Deep Thought was peanuts. But really, if it's such a good idea, why hasn't anyone done it yet?

--JanneJalkanen, 10-May-2004

Bah. Optimist.

http://www.ugcs.caltech.edu/~phoenix/vinge/vinge-sing.html

--Merten, 10-May-2004

Well, I hope you are a pessimist! Or at least a realist. Surrealist?

--62.237.206.161, 10-May-2004

Moi? I'm a dreamer, shaper, singer, and maker. I study the mysteries of beauty and darkness, chip and software, truth and reality, men and women. These are my tools, and I know many things.

I am not an optimist, a pessimist, nor am I a realist nor a surrealist. I just am. I call things as I see them, I name things as I please, I do things that I like. Because I am free of fear, I can do this.

And I can laugh. And I can weep. I can be everything and nothing.

The most important thing one can do is to be true to yourself and lead a good life. The second most important thing is to love. And the third most important thing is to forgive.

Does anything else matter?

--JanneJalkanen, 11-May-2004

In my case nothing matters because it is too late to be free of fear.

--62.237.206.161, 11-May-2004

We'll see ;-)

--JanneJalkanen, 11-May-2004

We cover this very topic from a wide variety of angles at Future Hi:

http://futurehi.net/

Here's a good starter list:

Future of Computation is Infinite http://www.futurehi.net/archives/000157.html

Exotic Civilizations: Beyond Kardaschev http://www.futurehi.net/archives/000106.html

Singularity Exo-Paleontology http://www.futurehi.net/archives/000082.html

Cheers,

Paul

--Paul Hughes, 12-May-2004

Lol. I've been reading your blog for about a week now and I really like the entries where you comment on topics to lose sleep over. :)

--Julia, 12-May-2004

Thank you. I think.

And now I'll lose sleep over wondering who you are :-).

--JanneJalkanen, 12-May-2004


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