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4. I would add an even stranger 4th option in that given the probes are sufficient intelligence they perhaps "evolve" into an uncontrolled state. That could me
by agentgt 10y ago
4. I would add an even stranger 4th option in that given the probes are sufficient intelligence they perhaps "evolve" into an uncontrolled state.
That could mean as simply as getting stuck like in local minimum in the hill climbing algorithm or something extremely complex as a probe like civilization (aka Star Trek 1 but in this case no longer cares about space exploration).
- mcbits 10y ago5. The von Neumann probes are microscopic and densely packed with a chemical structure encoding the information needed to reproduce in a variety of environments. Occasionally some of them mutate and get stuck in a planet's gravitational well, where they keep reproducing and mutating into who-knows-what. The urge to explore the cosmos is never completely lost, and eventually they reach a state where it's possible to continue the mission.