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Timeline of the far future

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Re: Timeline of the far future

#61

Post by sixdimensional »

mockingbirdy wrote: post #14

> Current data suggest that the universe has a flat geometry (or very close to flat), and thus, will not collapse in on itself after a finite time, and the infinite future allows for the occurrence of a number of massively improbable events, such as the formation of Boltzmann brains. I always thought that the universe will just reach zero Kelvin and the party is over. That it will just continue to do improbable stuff…

The thing that confuses me is, if the universe were to reach any type of steady state over infinite time, my question would be, what caused it to be in any other state than steady to begin with? Almost feel like this is a causality question.

Re: Timeline of the far future

#62

Post by maxerickson »

tzahola wrote: post #12
johnchristopher wrote: post #10

While the topic is on. I am trying to find a short story I read some years ago (4-5) about the evolution of life on our planet in the far future. Warning, massive spoilers: There are like 5 or 6 mass extinction events followed by a new civilization each time built by a different specie. At some points a raven civilization goes on the moon (they always had an innate tendency to go higher) and find an old rover, then i…

How could the Earth be totally smooth?

Someone probably deployed a plot device.

Re: Timeline of the far future

#63

Post by andbberger »

netgusto wrote: post #2

Fascinating: "10^(10^50) years: Estimated time for a Boltzmann brain to appear in the vacuum via a spontaneous entropy decrease." [1] [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boltzmann_brain > [...] a Boltzmann brain is a self-aware entity that arises due to extremely rare random fluctuations out of a state of thermodynamic equilibrium. [...]

That is __severely__ underestimating the true probability - it considers only random thermal fluctuations. But the universe is really powered by processes that dissipate energy across a gradient to fuel a structured, very low entropy state.

The math is the same as calculating the probability that the glass you just broke will spontaneously jump back onto the table and reassemble itself. Which is a standard introductory example in thermodynamics... but you add self-awareness and suddenly this rather mundane thing is spooky and amazing.

You should be far more interested in what's happening when you boil a pot of water and convection rolls spontaneously form.

Re: Timeline of the far future

#64

Post by Florin_Andrei »

cpburns2009 wrote: post #34
eanzenberg wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

1

This feels anecdotal rather than an actual calculation.

It's the only case where anecdotal evidence is acceptable.

Actually, no. That would be the existence of my own consciousness. Just mine. Not yours. That's it.

Re: Timeline of the far future

#65

Post by OscarCunningham »

21 wrote: post #8

> The length of the day used for astronomical timekeeping reaches about 86,401 SI seconds. Under the present-day timekeeping system, either a leap second would need to be added to the clock every single day, or else by then, in order to compensate, the length of the day would have had to have been officially lengthened by one SI second. Can you just imagine the amount of legacy code with DAY_SECONDS=86400 out there 5…

That's the good way to write code, surely? Then you can just change it once to DAY_SECONDS=86401.

Re: Timeline of the far future

#67

Post by johnchristopher »

shadyarmsdealer wrote: post #40
johnchristopher wrote: post #10

While the topic is on. I am trying to find a short story I read some years ago (4-5) about the evolution of life on our planet in the far future. Warning, massive spoilers: There are like 5 or 6 mass extinction events followed by a new civilization each time built by a different specie. At some points a raven civilization goes on the moon (they always had an innate tendency to go higher) and find an old rover, then i…

Could it be Last and First Men by Olaf Stapledon? It's a novel, not a short story, but it has the same structure you've described involving successive sentient races (including bird-like people) and the planets gradually becoming uninhabitable. Edit: Apparently Last and First Men was heavily influenced by a short story, "The Last Judgment" by J.B.S. Haldane. Source: https://www.sas.upenn.edu/sasalum/newsltr/fall99/en…

Thanks, I checked both but it's not it. It really was a short story, no more than ten minutes of reading. Also I distinctly remember the moon rover reference and emphasis that wouldn't likely be depicted as I remember it considering the 1927 date of publication of the short story.

I am pretty sure the author wasn't a published author. It was a blog post.

Re: Timeline of the far future

#68

Post by drewblaisdell »

andbberger wrote: post #63
netgusto wrote: post #2

Fascinating: "10^(10^50) years: Estimated time for a Boltzmann brain to appear in the vacuum via a spontaneous entropy decrease." [1] [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boltzmann_brain > [...] a Boltzmann brain is a self-aware entity that arises due to extremely rare random fluctuations out of a state of thermodynamic equilibrium. [...]

That is __severely__ underestimating the true probability - it considers only random thermal fluctuations. But the universe is really powered by processes that dissipate energy across a gradient to fuel a structured, very low entropy state. The math is the same as calculating the probability that the glass you just broke will spontaneously jump back onto the table and reassemble itself. Which is a standard introducto…

> You should be far more interested in what's happening when you boil a pot of water and convection rolls spontaneously form.

Serious question: why?

Re: Timeline of the far future

#69

Post by rtkwe »

OscarCunningham wrote: post #65
21 wrote: post #8

> The length of the day used for astronomical timekeeping reaches about 86,401 SI seconds. Under the present-day timekeeping system, either a leap second would need to be added to the clock every single day, or else by then, in order to compensate, the length of the day would have had to have been officially lengthened by one SI second. Can you just imagine the amount of legacy code with DAY_SECONDS=86400 out there 5…

That's the good way to write code, surely? Then you can just change it once to DAY_SECONDS=86401.

Fine but now you have to find every packaged binary using the old compiled version and update that too.
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