4 ms·

The Fermi paradox can be answered in so many ways, and is tied to questions like what is the purpose of life and the universe. Beyond the existence of a single

The Fermi paradox can be answered in so many ways, and is tied to questions like what is the purpose of life and the universe. Beyond the existence of a single person (such as myself, or you) what do we exist to do? Is it to learn the universe? (Curiosity) Is it to decrease entropy locally in order to increase it globally? (Spend energy) Is it to increase complexity? (Do interesting things, foster maximum diversity?) For example, if the purpose is indeed curiosity, maybe all we will need is one Dyson sphere in order to understand the universe. We could have a dozen super intelligent life forms in our galaxy alone and probably wouldn't notice them. Basically would just look like a quiet black hole the size of a star.

yesco 2y ago
In my opinion, life is just self-replicating tumbleweeds of matter that drift towards local spaces with high energy. The ideal "shape" of these tumbleweeds is gradually approximated via the algorithm of evolution, filtering out the tumbleweeds that fly too close to the sun and so on. Intelligence becomes an emergent property of these optimal shapes, but intelligence doesn't change the outcome, broadly speaking, they still drift towards local spaces with high energy. Individual organisms will live their life perusing energy, with every breath, with every meal. Even super organisms, such as a nation, will (attempt to) peruse energy in the form of a thriving economy, which influences the energy allocation of the organisms that make it up. Even absent these tumbleweeds, high density matter (high energy) will literally bend space, and attract other matter to itself through gravitational force. It's entirely different than what I've already discussed, yet intuitively similar? How does this apply to the fermi paradox? Maybe the idea that the algorithm of evolution will eventually lead to life self-propagating across the universe is flawed. Maybe the spirit of exploration is not universal. Maybe the the simple fact that interstellar travel and communication is energy inefficient is enough to explain the aggregate effect we are seeing?
- FloorEgg 2y ago
  it sounds like your take is the entropy one, but with a caveat that dark energy prevents Indefinite growth.
- mithametacs 2y ago
  I find the most interesting possibility: - life finds a way - life gets too smart - life kills itself - life finds a way
vbezhenar 2y ago
I thought Dyson sphere will emit enormous radiation anyway? Like how do you convert photons into electricity and use that electricity afterwards with 100% efficiency? Is it even theoretically possible? There should be lots of heat emitted as infrared light.
- FloorEgg 2y ago
  Hard to fathom what engineering a civilization like that might be capable of, maybe it would emit extremely hard to detect radio noise.
- kiba 2y ago
  A dyson swarm is nothing difficult to achieve. All you need is the ability to put satellite into orbit. That's the minimum. The other part is mass manufacturing them.
  - andsoitis 2y ago
    How much energy and material is needed to manufacture, launch, position, maintain, and then leverage a Dyson swarm?

yesco 2y ago

In my opinion, life is just self-replicating tumbleweeds of matter that drift towards local spaces with high energy. The ideal "shape" of these tumbleweeds is gradually approximated via the algorithm of evolution, filtering out the tumbleweeds that fly too close to the sun and so on. Intelligence becomes an emergent property of these optimal shapes, but intelligence doesn't change the outcome, broadly speaking, they still drift towards local spaces with high energy. Individual organisms will live their life perusing energy, with every breath, with every meal. Even super organisms, such as a nation, will (attempt to) peruse energy in the form of a thriving economy, which influences the energy allocation of the organisms that make it up. Even absent these tumbleweeds, high density matter (high energy) will literally bend space, and attract other matter to itself through gravitational force. It's entirely different than what I've already discussed, yet intuitively similar? How does this apply to the fermi paradox? Maybe the idea that the algorithm of evolution will eventually lead to life self-propagating across the universe is flawed. Maybe the spirit of exploration is not universal. Maybe the the simple fact that interstellar travel and communication is energy inefficient is enough to explain the aggregate effect we are seeing?

FloorEgg 2y ago
it sounds like your take is the entropy one, but with a caveat that dark energy prevents Indefinite growth.
mithametacs 2y ago
I find the most interesting possibility: - life finds a way - life gets too smart - life kills itself - life finds a way

vbezhenar 2y ago

I thought Dyson sphere will emit enormous radiation anyway? Like how do you convert photons into electricity and use that electricity afterwards with 100% efficiency? Is it even theoretically possible? There should be lots of heat emitted as infrared light.

FloorEgg 2y ago
Hard to fathom what engineering a civilization like that might be capable of, maybe it would emit extremely hard to detect radio noise.
kiba 2y ago
A dyson swarm is nothing difficult to achieve. All you need is the ability to put satellite into orbit. That's the minimum. The other part is mass manufacturing them.
- andsoitis 2y ago
  How much energy and material is needed to manufacture, launch, position, maintain, and then leverage a Dyson swarm?