Live data from Hacker News

What life could be like for civilizations 1 trillion years from now

phys.org

31–40 of 168 posts

Re: What life could be like for civilizations 1 trillion years from now

#31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There is a theory that the universe is expanding faster and faster. At some point in the future, stars would be moving away faster than the speed of light and we couldn't ever see them again or reach them.

So would the light from those stars also be moving outward faster than the speed of light?

No. It's color shifted though.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Relativistic_Doppler_effect

Re: What life could be like for civilizations 1 trillion years from now

#32
post #28

This goes together nicely with the Aestivation Hypothesis ( https://arxiv.org/abs/1705.03394 ). If a civilisation puts itself on hold for a trillion years, just waiting around doing nothing, then when it wakes up the universe is much colder and it can do computations 10^30 times more efficiently. If the civilization consists of minds running on computers then they've increased their own lifespans by the same factor.

It's not like entropy will halt in that time. Worrying about efficiency of each individual calculation is a little ridiculous when you are wasting billions of years for the ambient temperature to drop.

Even in a trillion years, a star won't burn up so much of its energy that less than 10^-30 of it remains. So the wait is worth it.

Re: What life could be like for civilizations 1 trillion years from now

#34
post #14

Errr. I think by 2400 we’ve got every chance of living in the ruins of a past grand human civilization. Trillion is nice sci fi. 10,000 years in the future with any recognizable civilization is even more of a stretch.

A stretch indeed but interesting to think about nonetheless:

10,000 years in the future is the premise of Frank Herbert‘s Dune.

The novel (or rather the series) depicts a mankind that on one hand in some ways has evolved way beyond humanity’s current capabilities.

On the other hand, society has devolved into a feudal state.

Some technologies are shunned and outlawed for their destructive potential, most notably nuclear weapons and “thinking machines” (there’s some room for interpretation if this just means AI or computers in general), which have been replaced by “mentats” (basically human computers).

Re: What life could be like for civilizations 1 trillion years from now

#35
post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Due to the big bang the universe is expanding... but you’d expect the expansion to be slowing down due to the drag of gravity. However, since the 1990s we’ve observed that the universe’s expansion is accelerating - the theory is that a force called “dark energy” is causing this acceleration. If the acceleration continues, there will be a point where distant galaxies will be accelerating away from each other at the sp…

The idea that humanity will ever travel even to the nearest star is pure fiction. Anyone who thinks otherwise just fails to grasp the distances involved. They are so large as to be beyond understanding.

The idea that humanity won't ever travel even to the nearest star is pure fiction.

Anyone who thinks otherwise just fails to grasp exponential growth. They are so large as to be beyond understanding.

Re: What life could be like for civilizations 1 trillion years from now

#36
post #25
post #14

Errr. I think by 2400 we’ve got every chance of living in the ruins of a past grand human civilization. Trillion is nice sci fi. 10,000 years in the future with any recognizable civilization is even more of a stretch.

Thats a pretty pessimistic view to have when we live in an era of ongoing progress in almost every area.

Yes! Reading tip for the the pessimist: https://www.amazon.com/Factfulness-Reasons-World-Things-Bett...

Re: What life could be like for civilizations 1 trillion years from now

#37
post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Due to the big bang the universe is expanding... but you’d expect the expansion to be slowing down due to the drag of gravity. However, since the 1990s we’ve observed that the universe’s expansion is accelerating - the theory is that a force called “dark energy” is causing this acceleration. If the acceleration continues, there will be a point where distant galaxies will be accelerating away from each other at the sp…

The idea that humanity will ever travel even to the nearest star is pure fiction. Anyone who thinks otherwise just fails to grasp the distances involved. They are so large as to be beyond understanding.

My vote is still with the brain in a jar (or something close to it). Fewer resources, less area, and much of the life support equipment could be shared between many individuals. There's reason to believe it would extend lifespans as well, provided that an entirely virtual life could be made worth living.

I honestly think we'll achieve this long before we're able to properly or effectively simulate a brain with computers of any kind.

Re: What life could be like for civilizations 1 trillion years from now

#38
post #2

I think tools 1 trillion years from now that stumble across that headline will wonder what humanity was.

I suppose sibling comments were downvoted because they didn't address (a) the probable truth of the parent and (b) it's comedic nature.

I'm curious if any natural being could ever last so long. To stand that sort of test of time would require an environmental design to withstand everything the cosmos can throw at a species. Humans won't last that long, but if they did it would be because they augmented themselves.

Re: What life could be like for civilizations 1 trillion years from now

#40
post #25
post #14

Errr. I think by 2400 we’ve got every chance of living in the ruins of a past grand human civilization. Trillion is nice sci fi. 10,000 years in the future with any recognizable civilization is even more of a stretch.

Thats a pretty pessimistic view to have when we live in an era of ongoing progress in almost every area.

Speaking of pessimism, i just hope we humans destroy each other before we destroy earth to pave way to species which is not so hell bent on personal over society.
Post reply on HN