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> the idea that FTL communication/travel is difficult or impossible Not just FTL. My hypothesis is that any type of substantial interstellar travel is going to
by semi-extrinsic 2y ago
> the idea that FTL communication/travel is difficult or impossible
Not just FTL. My hypothesis is that any type of substantial interstellar travel is going to be so enormously expensive, complicated and time consuming, an advanced civilisation will only do it once in a billion years. In the form of mass exodus when there are no more habitable planets in their system or their star is going nova. As this never gives exponential growth, it is enough to resolve the Fermi paradox.
- dbspin 2y agoBut that's simply not the case. We likely very close to the technology needed to get tiny objects to a decent fraction of lightspeed using laser arrays. Assuming genuine AGI is possible and miniaturisation continues, there's no physical reason a digital intelligence couldn't rapidly (on interstellar time scales) colonise the galaxy. Source - https://breakthroughinitiatives.org/initiative/3 https://breakthroughinitiatives.org/initiative/3
- semi-extrinsic 2y agoOkay, let's say I grant your two extremely optimistic assumptions. Then what? You can send a bunch of tiny sentient brains hurtling through the universe. They will have a very high chance of hitting interstellar dust and turning into a blob of plasma before they reach the target solar system. They also have no way at all to slow down once they reach the target system. Interstellar travel requires not just being able to accelerate to incredible speeds, but also to carry enough energy and reaction mass to slow down again to (essentially) zero.