Posthumans and the Ultimate Fate of the Universe Discussion in one of Roberts recent posts in the group (here: on.fb.me/1pqfjAd) turned to the very distant future, touching on ancestor simulations, universe simulations, and quantum archaeology. This reminded me of a question Ive oft-considered privately but have found no publications nor statements on: from a trans/posthumanist perspective, whats a reasoned estimate as to how long civilization could survive in cosmic deep time? Lets assume we survive the next millennium, becoming truly interplanetary and interstellar. Were going much further than that. In fact, well assume we will not destroy ourselves nor be destroyed by an alien civilization. The only entropic enemy remaining is the nature of the universe itself. Our ancestors (and really, nearly everyone today, even) viewed Earth as timeless and permanent (standing on solid ground, not on a rock floating in space). Now, scientists project Earths natural ability to sustain life would end within a couple billion years, and astronomy and physics inform us a couple billion years, and indeed, the whole 13.8 billion-year past of the universe, is momentary compared to its future. According to Wikipedias survey of scientific projections of the deep future, stellar formation will end in about 100 trillion years. If posthumans conserve this energy, theyll be able to survive astronomically longer than 100 trillion years, which will seem even *longer* due to the acceleration of their postbiological minds. Even the most cursory calculations of how long civilization could persist in both objective and subjective time (much assumption would be necessary, of course) would be appreciated. Regardless, all star-derived energy would *eventually* dissipate. So, what, then? Could posthumans somehow extend stellar formation? Would they turn to zero-point energy? Could zero-point energy ever be effectively harnessed? So when, ultimately, would posthumans run out of energy? When would the universe become too inhospitable even with quadrillions of years of planning, managing, and technology advancing? Will we travel into the past, and if so, would even that have limits? Will we escape into the multiverse if it exists? Or is the death of the universe utterly inescapable, with everything doomed to unthinking blackness until the next initial singularity (Big Bang) resulting from quantum fluctuations produces a new universe, causally unlinked to our own, in 10^10^56 years? Have instantiations of ourselves and our civilization existed infinitely many times before, and will they exist infinitely many times in the future? And might consciousness ever become substrate independent in that other sense, i.e., could we ever become energy beings or noncorporeal entities? Speculate.
Posted on: Fri, 30 May 2014 07:24:24 +0000
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