RE: [MLUG - DISCUSSION] Unfolding Universe (discovery channel)

[Michael <EMAIL:PROTECTED>]

> > More than likely a majority of us will eventually live
> > off-world in some
> > sort of ship/cities. The needed materials can be claimed from
> > planets that
> > we wouldn't find convenient to actually put cities on but
> > we're probably
> > more likely to just build the cities as huge moving colonies.
> > Of course
> > also likely is that by the time we have that many people we would have
> > already become educated enough to hack our own species so
> > that we can live
> > in most any enviroment. Bionanotechnology and all that jazz.
>
> That would be interesting.  Of course, that greatly compounds the population
> issue.  If we have that good of biotech, we would try for immortality.  If
> nobody ever dies, and we don't give up procreation, population can do
> nothing but rise almost endlessly.

This is true but we'll also (in theory) be able to take on much different
bodies, or possibly no body at all, that would use much fewer resources.
Also we'd have perfect control over procreation so that sex and
procreation did not go together. Perfect birth control throughout the
entire population would slow the birth rate a lot. Of coursae then you run
into issues such as stagnation. If we no longer die or have offspring how
would we evolve. Myself I imagine people taking 'The Big Nap' where they
sleep for a century at a time. Something like planned hibernation for
purposes of stirring the species.

> > More interesting to me is how we'll communicate over such distances. I
> > find interesting these projects that are trying to communicate
> > point-to-point across any distance using some form of quantum
> > theory. I
> > don't really understand it but it sounds awesome. If they
> > ever get that to
> > work that would mean we could have an Internet spread clear across the
> > Universe with no noticable communications lag anywhere.
>
> Orson Scott Card actually used a reasonable one of these in his "Enders
> Game" series.  The current theoretical technology involves splitting up
> subatomic particles, which seem to vibrate in sync with each other,
> instantly, and irregardless of distance, even after being separated.

Exactly. I don't really understand the details (though I'd like to.. if
anyone here is an expert) but it sounds really impressive. I imagine
having one of these devices in each of us and each of our devices so that
we can communicate instantly anywhere. Combined with bionanotechnology you
could embed these in your body/mind and share thoughts directly with
anyone anywhere. If we manage to reverse engineer the brain fully
(eventually we will if we don't die out first) we could even download
ourselves into data and transmit ourselves to the other side of the
Universe in an instant.. or live purely in virtual reality.

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