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Timeline of the far future

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Re: Timeline of the far future

#191

Post by anonytrary »

TangoTrotFox wrote: post #74

Some of these are ironically myopic: " 10,000 years: If globalization trends lead to panmixia, human genetic variation will no longer be regionalized, as the effective population size will equal the actual population size. This does not mean homogeneity, as minority traits will still be preserved, e.g. the blonde gene will not disappear, but it will be rather evenly distributed worldwide. " That prediction makes the…

It's a bit ironic because you made the exact same mistake they made. Interplanetary colonization only makes sense if humans are even around in 10,000 years. It's possible they will not be -- the speed of light being finite makes interplanetary colonization much less probable. Making any kind of 10,000 year prediction on a population thousands seems myopic.

Re: Timeline of the far future

#192

Post by zaarn »

mrkstu wrote: post #128
goodcanadian wrote: post #117

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Theoretically, a black hole can exist at any mass as long as it is dense enough. It is true that a black hole won't form without enough mass to cause it to collapse, but once formed, it can evaporate down to nothing without ever becoming gravitationally unbound.

Theoretically it could evaporate but is there any necessity of that? Is exploding a theoretical possibility or once a stellar mass black hole forms is it thereafter in such a small circumference that it is stuck in that form until it evaporates?

Well, evaporation is simply a conclusion from hawking radiation.

The black hole losses energy over this radiation, energy it produces from it's own mass.

Since hawking radiation output increases relative to the size of the black hole as it gets smaller, eventually you end up with an explosion. I do believe that Kurzgesagt made a video that details what would happen with a blackhole with the mass of a coin in your pocket (short version: you die)

Re: Timeline of the far future

#193

Post by zaarn »

turc1656 wrote: post #27
jsdalton wrote: post #11

Amazing that the entirety of human civilization as we know it fits in a smaller time scale than the very first event on this timeline (10,000 years from now). So while these time spans are minuscule on an astronomical scale, they are enormous on a human scale.

Indeed. In Neil DeGrasse Tyson's version of "Cosmos" there is a great illustration where he says that if we visualize the entire history of the universe as being scaled to one calendar year then every human being that has ever lived has essentially existed somewhere within the last 12 seconds of that year.

Even better, when you stretch those 12 seconds to a few minutes and where to watch a slideshow of human progress, all of modern history would be over in a few seconds too, stuff like the invention of steam machines up to the moon landing would be in the last two or three frames, flashing by in the blink of an eye.

It really puts into perspective how insignificant we really are on this tiny blue dot. On the grand scale, nothing we do will matter, in either time or space. We're too small and shortlived. Probably means we should make the most of it :)

Re: Timeline of the far future

#194

Post by zaarn »

crooked-v wrote: post #164
l1k wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The Total Perspective Vortex is allegedly the most horrible torture device to which a sentient being can be subjected. When you are put into the Vortex you are given just one momentary glimpse of the entire unimaginable infinity of creation, and somewhere in it there's a tiny little speck, a microscopic dot on a microscopic dot, which says, "You are here." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Technology_in_The_Hitchhiker%2.…

It's pretty great if you're Zaphod Beeblebrox, though, since then it just confirms that the entire universe centers on you.

Well in that specific case the universe was actually centered around Beeblebrox since he was in the boss office who was on a cruise vacation. In his office.

Re: Timeline of the far future

#195

Post by zaarn »

KozmoNau7 wrote: post #32
l1k wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The Total Perspective Vortex is allegedly the most horrible torture device to which a sentient being can be subjected. When you are put into the Vortex you are given just one momentary glimpse of the entire unimaginable infinity of creation, and somewhere in it there's a tiny little speck, a microscopic dot on a microscopic dot, which says, "You are here." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Technology_in_The_Hitchhiker%2.…

I dunno man. I'm already quite aware of how insignificant I am on a cosmic scale. So it would be interesting to gain a proper sense of scale of the ridiculous vastness of space.

I recommend watching the Numberphile Video on Grahams Number.

I think once you start to grasp how truly unimaginable large this number is, you get a comparable feeling to how the cosmic scale compares to us in an emotional way.

Re: Timeline of the far future

#196

Post by anonytrary »

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…

If there is no variance in the position of a particle (it is in a position eigenstate), then there must be an infinite variance in the momentum, which means the particle necessarily has kinetic energy.

Re: Timeline of the far future

#197

Post by kalendos »

stallmanite wrote: post #51

My all-time favorite wikipedia article, great to see it getting some attention. I find that along with providing great fodder for small-talk (among certain types), it causes me to experience a psychological effect analogous to the so-called "overview effect" experienced by astronauts. Attempting to conceive of one's place in cosmological time is great exercise.

Made me remember a Carl Sagan quote.

"We are like butterflies who flutter for a day and think it is forever"

Re: Timeline of the far future

#199

Post by DoctorOetker »

Symmetry wrote: post #81
andbberger wrote: post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

the universe is really powered by processes that dissipate energy across a gradient to fuel a structured, very low entropy state. By 10^(10^50) years that'll be long over.

which is exactly his point...
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