Subject: Greg Egans Diaspora and the Fermi Paradox Newsgoups: alt.sci.seti, sci.astro.seti, rec.arts.sf.science, rec.arts.sf.written From: "Simon Laub" Date: 21. september 2003 19:37 Greg Egans Diaspora and the Fermi Paradox. ============================================== Gamma Ray bursts (caused by colliding neutron stars or some other mechanism) is not something the human species wants to witness close-up. It has been speculated that kinetic energy is converted into an intense flash of neutrinos, faintly tinged with gamma rays, before the stars merge to form a black hole. Even a distance of a hundred light years would be uncomfortably close for organic life. And if thats not bad enough, Egan is the man to frigthen us with even worse disasters, lurking out there in the night sky. Egans invention is the "core blast". Here the core of the Milky Way collapses and starts to create new space-time. Unfortunately not entirely orthogonal to our universe, but intruding into our world. With extreme temperatures as a consequence. Temperatures that breaks up nuclei within a radius of fifty thousand light years. We would expect smart species to flee an upcoming Gamma Ray burst and move to safer regions of the Galaxy. And likewise for core blasts and similiar contingencies. Except that means leaving the Galaxy behind and turning it over to the poor, soon to be toasted, ignorant species. Which BTW exlains the Fermi Paradox. Smart species don't want to be toast - so they left the Galaxy :-) Not even stopping to set up a radio beacon broadcasting a "tough luck" to the stay put nitwit species. In Egans "Diaspora" things were going great for humanity in the late twenty-first century: A mass influx of blood an flesh humans into computers or network of computers, which functions as the infra structure for a community of conscious software (The "Introdus"). Creation of a new citizens by running mind seeds, or by assembly and customization of preexisting components ("psychogenesis"). All in all an ersatz "Garden of Eden" for humanity. Gamma Ray burst are then a little troublesome. But no more. When the Earth is lost the refugees can move to some other part of the Galaxy and recreate the lifes they once lived, by running simulation software. No problem. Minds could also be redesigned to encompass interstellar distances. One self spanning thousands of stars (Fred Hoyle). Local contingencies dealt with by non-conscious subsystems. The real killer is still something like the core blast. Hopefully, wormholes to other universes might then be found. But universes with how many dimensions? Surely, our minds will need major repair work to cope in a, say, 5 dimensional universe? But with such technology perfected we are ready to explore the multiverse. Even such exploration will end though. After an eon or two. But thats ok, cause then we will be complete. Having played out every possibility within ourselves. Or so at least according to Greg Egan. FUT: rec.arts.sf.science -Simon Simon Laub silanian.tripod.com