mighty arrogant to assume "civilization" will last that long
What life could be like for civilizations 1 trillion years from now
131–140 of 168 posts
Re: What life could be like for civilizations 1 trillion years from now
#132To accelerate stars, you squeeze them until a jet of matter comes out in the opposing direction. For ideas on getting matter out of stars, see "star lifting". Furthermore, most of the useful energy in stars is not their nuclear binding energy, it is their potential as gravitational fuel, for example when added into a black hole via the Penrose process. It makes sense to accelerate stars toward the central dwelling pl…
How silly. Saying we don't know how to move a star is exactly the same as saying "you just squeeze it", right up until the point you actually go out there and actually fucking squeeze it.
I was on mobile so didn't have the time to post a link to more than "search on star lifting", but now that I'm off mobile, have a link.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_lifting
EDIT: more material directly on moving stars:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stellar_engine https://www.dynamical-systems.org/zwicky/stellarengines.pdf
Re: What life could be like for civilizations 1 trillion years from now
#133Kurzgesagt had some nice summaries of:
1) Why white dwarves might be the last home for life in the universe - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qsN1LglrX9s
2) ...or maybe it will be black holes - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ulCdoCfw-bY
Re: What life could be like for civilizations 1 trillion years from now
#134Isaac Arthur made a compendium called Civilizations at the End of Time [1] that goes into this territory. This guy, in my opinion, goes above and beyond even your typical hard scifi. Can't recommend highly enough. [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p58yFf7aZsM&list=PLIIOUpOge0...
Interesting. What's up with his pronunciation of the words earth and stars? Everything else is perfectly pronounced.
Re: What life could be like for civilizations 1 trillion years from now
#135Earlier quoted context omitted.
How silly. Saying we don't know how to move a star is exactly the same as saying "you just squeeze it", right up until the point you actually go out there and actually fucking squeeze it.
I was on mobile so didn't have the time to post a link to more than "search on star lifting", but now that I'm off mobile, have a link. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_lifting EDIT: more material directly on moving stars: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stellar_engine https://www.dynamical-systems.org/zwicky/stellarengines.pdf
You've also removed the part where you called those pontifications "engineering".
edit: No, seriously, the initial comment shat on the author of the link for not knowing anything about mega-engineering. That's what I was calling silly.
Re: What life could be like for civilizations 1 trillion years from now
#136Earlier quoted context omitted.
I guess it’s more fun to dream about the world millions of years in the future, but wouldn’t we gain so much more if we spent all of our energy trying to optimize acquiring knowing more rapidly in the next few decades? For example, supply 9 billion humans with clean, renewable energy by 2050. Accelerate cures for cancers, heart disease, malaria, etc. Large colony on Mars within 20 years, ...
It is not how science works. You can't predict what might be useful. 1940 Hardy labels number theory (his own area of mathematics) as useless 1977 RSA You can't imagine the modern internet without cryptography.
Hardy's statement was philosophical, not a scientific prediction. Encryption was already an important science by 1940
Re: What life could be like for civilizations 1 trillion years from now
#137Earlier quoted context omitted.
Prior civilizations collapsed after over-exploiting their environment, and we're making the same mistake on a global scale. Our complex supply chains based on fossil fuels are rather fragile - we will likely survive a collapse at reduced quality of a life, however total recovery may be slow or impossible depending on remaining resources.
We can produce more food than ever with less energy. Knowledge transfer is always improving, and with computer programs it will be even easier to transfer knowledge. You guys need to clarify what "a collapse" is. Not eating as much meat? Do you really think that we would not be able to power our computers or not be able to produce rice/wheat on any industrial scale? The amount of FUD spread without any foundation for…
> We can produce more food than ever with less energy. Knowledge transfer is always improving...
I imagine that's what people said before the Dark Ages too. It's not as if empires and civilizations haven't ever fallen before.
Re: What life could be like for civilizations 1 trillion years from now
#138Earlier quoted context omitted.
> I think tools 1 trillion years from now that stumble across that headline will wonder what humanity was. We will be lucky to still be here in 100 years.
We've already come this far, we probably will be here for a while longer
We're kind of like rats.
Re: What life could be like for civilizations 1 trillion years from now
#139Then, there will be a post on HN about it, marked [2018 FE (First Era)]. "Ancients knew all this would happen [2018 FE]"
And below that, a post about how this will be the year of Linux on the desktop? Sorry, couldn't resist :-)
"What you need to know about the Windows 10 Star Squeezer's Update"
Re: What life could be like for civilizations 1 trillion years from now
#140Earlier quoted context omitted.
I just gave this a go. It's amazing, thank you for putting it on my radar. At first his speech impediment makes it harder to follow, but 5 minutes in you're used to it and you're just riveted by the content and the clear communication style. This is quality stuff.
I guess it’s more fun to dream about the world millions of years in the future, but wouldn’t we gain so much more if we spent all of our energy trying to optimize acquiring knowing more rapidly in the next few decades? For example, supply 9 billion humans with clean, renewable energy by 2050. Accelerate cures for cancers, heart disease, malaria, etc. Large colony on Mars within 20 years, ...
don't be a killjoy - thinking about these timescales doesn't gore your ox. In fact, putting effort into long-term thinking of any kind is probably going to help prioritizing on any scale.