Cosmic Evolution

[Thunderbird]

I grew up, watching the moon landing thinking about the possibilities of exploring the universe finding civilizations just as any sci-fi and science fan did.

 

The mythological appeal of boldly going where no man has gone before seemed to be just around the technological bend.

 

This is the reason I joined the navy, if I was not going to sail into the vast unknown of space I could at least sail into the vastness of the Pacific Ocean.

 

This did not quill my need to see beyond the well tread path and decided to learn all I could about the universe, and found out this was the real key to the cosmos.

 

The most fascinating views I found was that by studying our distant past, and deciphering its cycles of organization, you could in effect pinpoint our present stage of development in these cycles.

 

We as humans share a common thread to all life running back to the Precambrian cell that formed the first animal life,... that is to connect into something greater than ourselves.

 

One person might see a vision of God, another a technologically advanced civilization,.. depending on what symbols they prefer.

 

These desires our coming from the same desire for humans to transcend, to connect, We are just as the cells of the Cambrian beginning to connected and communicate into something greater than the sum of the former competitive autonomous parts.

 

When this coming together happens; it happens abruptly, an emergence takes place. This is how things appear in the universe seemingly out of nowhere.

 

What formally was a barren seascape now abounds with life. How did this happen? and what does this have to do with our future evolution?

 

The simple answer to our future in space is hinted at in biologic evolution of the past.

 

The transcendent nature of communications.

 

More specifically information this is the thread that tied the cells together bringing this world into focus into reality.

 

 

What would a man be without the civilization he is identified with.

 

Lets not forget there is another aspect of ourselves, a polar opposite aspect that still remains, and even more ancient and primordial, we, like all life defend our autonomy.

Just as strong as our desire to expand across the universe and seek out others is our fear of something alien evading us. Something completely impersonal foreign, parsitic, unsympathetic.

 

Life osculates between two opposing primordial impulses, autonomy and transcendence.

 

 

 

If we or any biological life were able to expand it would eventually enviably lead to destructive conflict.

 

I believe this will not happen however, I think the cosmos has laws that govern the flow consciences energy with the restrictions of the fragile biological constructs that it emerges from. The distances and obstacles may in fact serve as a protection of the biologic diversity of life until such time as it can communicate and connect to others in the universe , thus retaining all and expanding all....... and again into the one.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Space Exploration and Cosmic Evolution

Tom Lombardo, Ph.D.

Table of Contents

Introduction to the Cosmos

The Heritage, History, and Contemporary Reality of Space Travel

Exploring and Colonizing the Solar System

Life and Intelligence in the Universe

Exploring and Colonizing the Galaxy, the Universe, and Beyond

The Promise and Possibility of Cosmic Evolution

Introduction to the Cosmos

 

 

 

 

http://http://www.odysseyofthefuture.net/pdf_files/Readings/ReadingSpaceExploration.pdf

 

 

 

The other significant challenge within a galactic civilization is

communication. Vinge, in A Fire Upon the Deep, envisions of galactic Internet

or Web.215 Given the present evolution of the computer-based satellite

communication system on the earth, it is easy to imagine that as we venture into

space, this system will be progressively extended outward. Visions of a “Global

Brain” will transform into visions of a “Stellar Brain”. However, given the

constraints of the speed of light, the Stellar Brain would think rather slowly.

Impulses across its network, even within the solar system, could require hours,

days, or even months to transverse the distances between planets, asteroids,

and comets. Also, as illustrated rather comically at times in Vinge’s novel, a

galactic Internet would be filled with such an overpowering cacophony of voices,

rumors, and propaganda that the system would be maddening and require

search engines, filters, and functional agents of immense processing speed and

complexity to bring any degree of order to the communication lines. A further

complication, also dramatically illustrated in A Fire Upon the Deep, is the

possibility of artificial intelligence viruses spreading through the system. The

galactic civilization envisioned by Vinge comes crashing down as the Perversion,

an intelligent computer virus attempting to assimilate the entire Milky Way,

spreads across the airways of the galactic Web. The potential for chaos, turmoil,

and confusion within a galactic communication system is enormous.

Savage though, for one, clearly foresees the evolution of an Internet-like

system developing between star systems and across the galaxy. His ideas

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regarding a participatory democracy among the incredible numbers of space

inhabitants require a participatory communication system, where everyone can

input ideas and everyone can “hear” each other.216 Savage also invokes the

model and metaphor of the brain in describing this communication system. Each

individual person within the communication system is analogous to a single brain

cell, possessing autonomy and a unique voice within the whole. Individuals are

“cosmic brain cells”, together forming a cosmic mind or consciousness. Spread

across vast distances of space, the collective cells would be able to take in the

total panorama of the whole and, integrating their inputs through a collective

dialogue, they could achieve a conscious perspective on the whole. Analogous to

the idea of thinking globally by globally thinking (thinking of the whole by thinking

as a whole), at a galactic level humans would be able to think about galactic

issues by thinking as a galactic collective.

All of the science fiction scenarios of stellar and galactic civilizations

presented above contain supra-luminal communication and transportations

systems. In both Hyperion and A Fire Upon the Deep, the Internet systems

transmit messages faster than the speed of light. Interestingly in the second

novel, the Milky Way is stratified into layers of increasing speed of thought and

transmission, with the inner core or depths constrained by the speed of light, but

the outer layer open to supra-luminal transport and communication. Again, if one

is to transmit messages faster than light, the challenge is to find some way to

bend or bypass either space or time. The cosmic civilization of the Xeelee in

Stephen Baxter’s Vacuum Diagrams appears to use the quantum principle of

non-local entanglement to achieve instantaneous communication across the

universe.217 To recall from Chapter One, quantum particles that become

entangled through interaction with each other seem to stay in immediate

resonance with each other’s states even at astronomical distances. There is no

transmission across space, which is limited to the speed of light, but in the

Xeelee communication web, a change of state in one node of the web

immediately shifts the states in other nodes in the web. Michael Zey, for one,

believes that eventually human civilization will be able to exploit the principle of

non-locality in order to communicate across the vast distances of space.218

Ideas regarding stellar and galactic brains and modes of thought lead to

another important consideration in contemplating the possibilities of a galactic

civilization. Within the evolution of life on the earth, smaller, less complex life

forms have formed symbiotic collective relationships and in some cases, such as

with the emergence of multi-cellular organisms, a sufficient number of simpler

forms integrate into a unique emergent whole.219 It appears it is necessary for a

population to reach a critical mass before it can form into a larger system that

transcends the properties of the parts.220 Stock has suggested that the present

population of humans on the earth, coupled with the technological

communication lines linking humans together, is reaching a point in growth where

humanity will ascend to a higher level of intelligence and integrity. He calls this

new evolutionary level “Metaman”. The human brain, which is a collective

network of hundreds of billions of cells, achieves a relatively integrated sense of

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emergent identity and consciousness through the combined input of all the

cells.221

Although the distances and degrees of diversity across the members of a

galactic civilization would be exceedingly great, the number of individuals within

such a system could reach a level of magnitude that would lead to some

emergent cosmic intelligence and mind. The jump to a higher level of identity and

functioning could happen even at the stellar level, if hundreds of trillions of

humans were to populate the solar system and engage in coordinated interaction

with each other.222 In Chapter Two, I discussed the possible development of a

cosmic intelligence as an evolutionary outgrowth of the burgeoning global

intelligence system. Such a cosmic intelligence could emerge in stages, first at

the stellar level and then at the galactic level. As the “mind” and “persona” of a

spatial civilization, it would need to possess unique qualities to handle the inner

complexity and external cosmic challenges it will face. A functional galactic

civilization would involve qualities beyond simply advanced technology, massive

energy expenditures, and large-scale structures and industry. It would require a

different kind of intelligence as well.

The reciprocity of the whole and the parts implies that if a galactic level

civilization and galactic intelligence were to emerge, then the individuals within

this reality would clearly be different from the humans of today. Recall Kurzweil’s

argument that even in the next hundred years, the evolving computer network

and artificial intelligence systems will require humans to technologically augment

their mental capabilities.223 The dual promises of genetic engineering and

cyborgization suggest that humans in the coming centuries will purposively

evolve along numerous dimensions and perhaps even achieve functional

immortality (a very desirable trait for extended space flights).224 By the time

humanity or the evolved descendents of our species are ready to travel to the

stars, we assuredly will not be the kind of creature that we presently are. In some

ways, we will probably be like the Ousters of Hyperion, nanotechnologically and

biologically altered to live in outer space. But more critically, the social

organization, communication systems, and vast diversity of space environments

in which we will live, will require a different type of mental and psychological

being than today. The minds of galactic beings will be “minds that are to our

minds as ours are to those beasts that perish”.225

Along with Marshall Savage, Frank Tipler is another scientist and futurist

who has proposed a full-scale exploration and colonization of the cosmos.

Tipler’s plan for colonizing the universe is presented in his book, The Physics

of Immortality.226 For Tipler, space travel and colonization are a matter of human

survival. As Tipler notes, the planet earth is doomed; it will eventually be

destroyed by the Sun when the Sun uses up all of its hydrogen fuel and begins to

expand. If we are to survive, we must move into outer space. But leaving the

earth is just the first small step in an ongoing race for survival. Tipler outlines a

general plan for colonizing the universe, based on the belief that nothing short of

a total cosmic colonization will ensure our survival.

In considering the most efficient way to explore and colonize the universe,

Tipler supports the idea, as suggested by other space futurists, of sending

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unmanned vehicles into space.227 Tipler proposes that we build self-sufficient

robotic spaceships to travel to the stars. Assuming significant progress in the

coming century for storing information in hyper-dense, miniaturized computer

circuitry, as well as in human genetics, Tipler’s robotically controlled star ships

would contain, stored in computer circuitry, the biological and genetic information

necessary for reproducing humans. For him it makes more sense to construct

humans when a habitable world is reached, then to transport them across vast

distances of space. Robots therefore will be the agents of human survival in

space travel; they will transport our genetic blueprint and grow us when they

arrive at appropriate settlement locations. This is an interesting reversal of roles;

having created robots on the earth, now humans will be created by robots in

space.

These space faring robots will contain von Neumann universal

constructors. To recall, von Neumann universal constructors can, given

directions and materials, construct anything. They are analogous to Turing’s

universal computer, which can compute anything. Tipler believes that humans

will be able to build universal constructors in around 20 years.228 With continued

development in computer miniaturization, universal constructors could be built

small enough for the stellar journeys. The constructors could code 10 to the 24th

power of bits of information, which is enough to build a city of humans. These

von Neumann constructors would build space settlements, as well as growing

humans for these settlements, and self-replicate to send further probes into

space. They could also build O’Neil colonies if no planets hospitable to humans

were found in the particular solar system being visited. Through self-replication

they would progressively expand the spreading wave of human colonization,

seeding human colonies exponentially throughout space.

According to Tipler we should use light or solar sail ships for the journey

into space. Based on advances in nanotechnology and the miniaturization of

computer circuitry, according to Tipler we could build space probes that weighed

100 grams and achieved a velocity of nine-tenths the speed of light. We would

use powerful lasers to accelerate the ships. Although the light sails on these

ships would measure kilometers across, the entire ship would weigh

approximately one kilogram. This image is a far cry from the gigantic Saturn

rockets and the enormous spaceships popularized in science fiction. Tipler thinks

that we could launch a von Neumann probe with this design by the middle of the

next century. Given that the Milky Way is about 100,000 light years across, he

estimates that it would take about 600,000 years using the above technology, to

colonize the entire Milky Way. This projection is even sooner than Savage’s

estimate of 700,000 years.

Tipler, though, does not think that we should stop at just colonizing the

Milky Way, but rather we need to explore and colonize the entire universe. Based

on his view of the future history of the cosmos, the entire universe needs to be

colonized and brought under intelligent human control to insure the continued

existence of life and consciousness. Recall that one popular view of the future of

the universe is that it will eventually stop expanding and begin to contract.229

Tipler believes that this collapse will happen. He thinks that life could engulf the

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entire universe, using the technology of space travel he presents, before the

universe starts to collapse, and that intelligence could gain control of the

collapse. If intelligence does not gain control of the collapse, everything will be

eventually annihilated in the Big Crunch. The hypothesized Big Crunch lies tens

of billions of years in the future, but the estimated time needed to colonize the

entire universe, though taking billions of years, could given the technology Tipler

outlines be accomplished before the collapse begins.

He believes that we can extend life and consciousness indefinitely without

end into the future. In gaining control of the collapse of the universe, Tipler thinks

that intelligent life could create a “Taub shear” or uneven collapse, to produce an

unending sequence of temperature gradients that would provide sufficient energy

for life to continue forever. He also thinks that the direction of the collapse should

be controlled toward a single point or c-boundary to provide for communication

across the entire cosmos; in his model the universe can’t collapse into numerous

points or c-boundaries. By making the universe go through a series of Taub

collapses, first in one direction and then in the other, we will eliminate all event

horizons (communication separations in the cosmos), and work toward a total

integration of the flow of energy. This total integration of the collapse will

generate an infinite amount of energy, and thus preclude the death of life and

conscious intelligence.

Tipler refers to this total integration of the cosmos as the Omega Point.230

If the combined efforts of all intelligent life in the cosmos can coordinate this

convergent process, subjectively life will continue forever. Since we have an

infinite amount of energy to work with in the collapse, we will be able to create

and experience an infinite amount of information processing and subjective

mental time, i.e., an infinite number of thoughts, perceptions, and emotions. This

infinite cosmic mind reached at the end of time is, according to Tipler, God.

Hence, for Tipler, God is the apex of evolution, the culmination of a universal

process toward increasing intelligence and control within the cosmos.231

This vision of the ultimate future of the cosmos is an interesting argument

for cooperation among all intelligent life in the universe. Although Tipler does not

include in his scenario the possibility of alien contact along the way, and how this

event would effect the exploration and colonization of the universe, Tipler’s

argument for universal cooperation would still hold even with the inclusion of

aliens. The survival of all life throughout the universe is at stake and in his mind

only a total coordinated guidance of the collapse of the universe would ensure

the infinite amount of available energy necessary for immortal existence. Tipler’s

argument for universal cooperation is also an argument for the necessity of

evolving a universal or cosmic mind. Only a cosmic mind, enveloping the entire

universe, can ensure the immortality of all sentient living members within the

cosmos.

Yet, if alien life forms are encountered on our journey into the cosmos and

the developing relationships with them turn out to be cooperative and if an

agreement is reached regarding the importance of gaining intelligent control of

the entire universe, then the time scale for enveloping the universe could speed

up considerably. But with the involvement of other types of intelligence, the

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strategy and nature of the whole venture could change. Perhaps there are other

technological or scientific means, different from what Tipler envisions, that would

accelerate the spreading of intelligence throughout the universe. Perhaps, there

are even other approaches to the continued existence of life and intelligence that

would not involve the kind of scenario described by Tipler. Alien intelligent life

forms may suggest alternatives. As I discuss below, there are other space

futurists and cosmologists who have offered different visions of the ultimate fate

of the universe and the role of humanity and intelligence in the grand scheme of

things. Still, Tipler’s general proposal that life and intelligence should spread

throughout the universe is shared by many, including Zey, Dyson, and Savage,

and his argument that intelligence will play a critical role in the ultimate fate of the

universe is also in agreement with the ideas of many writers on this topic,

including Kurzweil, Zey, and others.

Another important point to further examine regarding Tipler’s vision is the

physical evolution of humanity and intelligence during the process of space

exploration. Tipler suggests that we initiate the universal adventure of space

colonization using robots rather than humans. Yet as I have discussed, the

possibilities of significantly altering or transforming our physical and biological

make-up in the future are quite open, if not limitless. As the colonization of the

cosmos evolves, it may be humans traveling across great distances of space, but

humans that live for thousands, if not millions of years. Our consciousness and

self-identity may be housed within robotic or computer form.232 In the future, can

we create bodies specifically designed for long trips in space and limitless

adaptability on all types of worlds? As I have argued, the environment of space

and the diversity of new worlds encountered on our journey into space will drive

the biological evolution of humans. Tipler, in fact, imagines that as the universe

heats up to billions of degrees during the Big Crunch, intelligence will need to be

housed within physical forms totally different from anything imaginable today.

Whatever scenario we imagine regarding our future in outer space, our bodies

will undoubtedly be transformed as we colonize the universe.

One central theme within Tipler’s vision of the future is the connection

between space exploration and the evolution of a cosmic mind. As intelligence

spreads and integrates across the universe, Tipler notes that some form of

universal cooperative communication is needed. Presently our technologies of

communication are limited by the speed of light, yet as I discussed above,

perhaps there are ways to sends messages through holes or doorways in space

and time that transcend or bypass the constraints of the speed of light. However

technology develops, as intelligent life explores and colonizes space, the

universe will evolve systems of communication that integrate the minds and

identities of beings across galaxies. Just as the Internet is creating a global

intelligence here on earth, some type of universal Internet could create a cosmic

mind in the future. In this sense, space exploration and colonization is a critical

and significant step in the evolution of intelligence and mind in the future.

At the other end of the continuum from Tipler’s Omega Point theory of the

ultimate fate of the universe, is the vision presented by Fred Adams and Greg

Laughlin in their book The Five Ages of the Universe.233 Adams and Laughlin, to

51

recall, do not believe there is sufficient matter in the universe to generate a

collapse and Big Crunch.234 Rather they believe the universe will probably

continue to expand indefinitely though more slowly as the unending billions and

trillions of years go by. During the present Stelliferous Age, which will continue

approximately 100 trillion years into the future, humans could easily explore and

colonize the Milky Way and beyond. (Recall that Adams and Laughlin present the

highly conservative estimate that the Milky Way could be colonized in 300 million

years, which is little more than a millionth of the time remaining in the Stelliferous

Age.) Six billion years in the future, our closest full-sized galactic neighbor, the

Andromeda galaxy, will actually collide and merge with the Milky Way, so we will

clearly be able to explore and settle systems within it as well.

But when the Stelliferous Age comes to an end, mostly white dwarf stars

and black holes will populate the universe. Discounting the possibilities of

galactic engineering projects that would create new main sequence stars, like our

sun, life and intelligence still would be able to thrive within the stellar systems of

white dwarfs. The energy output of white dwarfs is considerably less than main

sequence stars, but with highly advanced energy efficient technologies and

redesigned biological or robotic forms to support our minds, intelligence and

civilization could continue to thrive and probably continue to spread through a

universe that will simultaneously be expanding as well.

When we come to the end of the white dwarf period when white dwarf

stars will have burned out, the universe will be approximately 10 to the 39th

power years old. At this point we enter into a totally new scale of existence, the

Black Hole Era, which according to Adams and Laughlin will continue roughly 10

to the 100th power of years into the future. Based on present scientific estimates,

the visible horizon of the universe at that time will be 10 to the 30th power times

farther out than today. Adams and Laughlin also estimate that there will be 10 to

the 46th power number of black holes in this future universe. This number is a

trillion trillion times the total number of stars in the presently observable universe.

Black holes slowly evaporate and can supply energy for intelligent and

technological civilization to continue, but the time scale of such a future world

would be drastically different from today’s. The distances between black holes in

this far future universe would be immense in comparison to today, hence signals

would take much longer to reach their intended destinations, and the amount of

energy being released from black holes would be at a rate incomparably slower

than that of the energy that is released from main sequence or even white dwarf

stars. Adams and Laughlin, though, outline a conceivable technology and

communication system that could utilize black holes as energy sources, but the

time necessary for various technological and intelligence activities in the Black

Hole Era would be much, much longer than now. In fact, they state that thought

itself would become slower by a factor of several billion times. Yet the Black Hole

Era would be 10 to the 30th power times longer than the Stelliferous Era, thus

providing enormously more relative time for the continued development of

intelligence and civilization than the mere 100 trillion years in our present era.

The popular cliché derived from Einstein’s theory of relativity is that “time

is relative”. The speed of human thought, in comparison to the rate of changes

52

occurring at the quantum level of electrons and photons, is incredibly slow by

factors of billions and trillions. In this sense, quantum particles “think” much faster

than human brains. The same relative scale of comparison would apply to the

difference between our thought processes and physical activities and the lives of

future inhabitants of the Black Hole Era. Our lives would seem to them as fleeting

as the creation and annihilation of sub-atomic particles at the quantum level. The

whole 100 trillion year epic of our star based civilizations would be nothing but a

passing short-lived moment from their perspective.

Eventually, all the black holes in the universe will evaporate and the Black

Hole Era will come to an end. We will enter the Dark Era. Adams and Laughlin

consider whether life and intelligence will still continue in this strange universe of

the future where all large stellar objects have disappeared, the proton may have

decayed, thus breaking atoms apart, and subatomic particles circle each other at

distances greater than the present dimensions of the universe. Still even in this

dark cosmos of universe-size “atoms”, Adams and Laughlin believe there will be

collisions among particles and energy flow, thus supporting the possibility of

some type of life and intelligence. As they state, as far into the future as one can

see, there will always be change and evolutionary transformation; the universe

will never be still. Could there be intelligent beings that stretched billions, if not

trillions of light years across and whose bodies literally consist of the ultra-rarified

form of the vacuum of outer space? Such beings would truly be like the spirits of

space.

In comparing the two different future cosmologies of Tipler and Adams

and Laughlin, in the former case, the intensity of energy and the speed of

intelligent processes accelerates to infinity as the Omega Point is approached. In

the latter case the opposite happens, with the universe becoming progressively

colder and more rarified with less overall energy flow and thought slowing down

by a factor of several billion. Both theories of the far distant future envision

cosmic realities and intelligent beings much different from those today. Yet

neither theory sees the evolution of intelligence coming to an end; history

continues forever. Further, although Tipler clearly emphasizes the role of

intelligence in determining the far distant future of the cosmos, Adams and

Laughlin also believe that intelligence will probably play a role in determining or

influencing the long-term evolution of the cosmos. They are though more open to

different possibilities than Tipler, considering various hypothetical scenarios of

how intelligence could direct the evolution of the universe.

As discussed in earlier sections of this book, one possibility for the

ultimate fate of the universe is that it will progressively disintegrate and wind

down, with all structures within it falling apart and all available energy being used

up.235 This potential “heat death of the universe” presumably follows from the

second law of thermodynamics and the inexorable increase of entropy

throughout the cosmos. Regardless of what great and magnificent cosmic

civilizations are created within our universe in the future, in the end everything

will wither and die. There will be no more energy available. In the end chaos

conquers order.

53

As noted above, Adams and Laughlin do not foresee this ultimate death

ever occurring, though they do believe that the pace of events will continue to

slow down the farther we move into the future. Yet even for them, as well as

various other space futurists, there are other possibilities besides either an

endless slowdown or eventual death to life, intelligence, and the cosmos. In all

these cosmic scenarios, that in different ways bypass or overcome the dark

threat of entropy looming at the horizon of existence, it is some advanced form of

intelligence that saves the day and prevents the ultimate annihilation of life.

Zey believes that human intelligence is destined to save the universe. In

his mind, the universe requires the evolution of intelligence for its survival. Citing

Freeman Dyson, Zey agrees that intelligence will somehow manipulate or alter

the future history of the universe and undermine the cosmic force of entropy.236

Both scientists such as Stephen Hawking and science fiction writers like Isaac

Asimov have considered the idea that the entropic flow of the cosmos could be

reversed. Asimov in his famous science fiction story, “The Last Question”,

describes a distant future reality where a highly advanced artificial intelligence,

after pondering the nature of existence for some indeterminable length of time,

figures it out, and in an act of cosmic creation, announces, “Let there be light!” reigniting

the cosmos into existence.237

Dyson, in fact, has suggested different possibilities regarding how

intelligence could survive forever within the cosmos. In the ultra-rarified type of

future universe described by Adams and Laughlin, Dyson also suggests that

intelligence could “move” into the thinly spread sub-atomic gases of this universe,

extending into time mind and consciousness without end. As a general principle,

Dyson argues that the capabilities of our distant future descendents will extend

far beyond our present imagination, and in an expression of ultimate hope and

optimism, he firmly believes that life and intelligence will find a way to perpetuate

themselves and thrive forever.238

Ray Kurzweil believes that intelligence will ultimately prove to be more

powerful than the impersonal forces of nature. He argues that the evolution of

computational density within the universe, which actually derives its energy and

stimulus for creative variation from the flow of chaos, has no limit. Instead of

viewing the fate of the universe as a deterministic result of natural laws, Kurzweil

sees the ultimate cosmic future as uncertain involving decisions yet to be

made.239

How, though, can life and intelligence, which derives their very sustenance

and existence from the material, energy, and lawful dynamics of the universe,

transcend or overturn what are the basic inherent constraints of nature itself?

First, following Kaku, we still do not understand as deeply as we potentially could

the ultimate foundation and fabric of existence and of space and time. Clearly,

there is the possibility that we are missing something essential in our

understanding of the cosmos that would afford us the knowledge to alter the

apparent inexorable demise of life and intelligence. As yet we are not “masters of

space and time”.240 As discussed in Chapter One, the very real possibility exists

that our universe is only one of many universes, and underneath the whole

myriad array of particular universes lies a deeper reality, a quantum sea of

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probabilistic creation. This deeper reality, which is the source of our creation,

may have more extensive or fluid boundaries than the limited arena of our

particular universe. Throughout the history of science, the power to control any

one level of reality has opened up once the underpinnings at a more fundamental

level of reality are understood. By moving into the reality of the cosmic multiverse

we may find ways to manipulate the nature of our own universe beyond

anything we can presently imagine.

A second related possibility is that we might be able to leave our dying

universe, just as in the nearer future we may have to leave the confines of our

solar system once our sun exhausts its own energy supply. Kaku has suggested

the possibility of building an “Einstein-Rosen” bridge from this universe into

another one.241 If the type of cosmology developed by Andre Linde and Lee

Smolin is valid, where universes bubble off of each other, then there are parallel

universes that are relatively “younger” than our universe, perhaps even recent

children of our universe.242 Assuming that black holes don’t collapse into infinitely

dense singularities,243 Kaku argues that humans could create “wormholes” in

space through hypothetical portals within the center of black holes and find a way

to travel through these wormholes into connected universes.244 Where

wormholes lead is still a matter of scientific debate. As mentioned earlier, they

could lead to other parts of our universe, but they could also lead to other

alternative histories of our own universe or to parallel universes.

In Stephen Baxter’s Vacuum Diagrams, the Xeelee create such a portal

into a parallel universe to escape the eventual cosmic triumph of anti-matter

Photino Birds within our universe.245 The Xeelee though, who clearly seem to be

masters of both space and time, have another technological capability that

figures significantly in journeying beyond the confines of this universe – they can

travel through time. Having faced the forces of dark matter in the far distant

future and realizing that the Photino Birds will dominate the final fate of the

universe, the Xeelee create a time traveling armada that moves backward in time

to a much earlier period of the universe, when humans in fact are just beginning

to explore outer space. They then begin their great technological project of

creating a portal light years wide through which they can move their entire

civilization through, along with a few humans, into another universe.

If advanced intelligence in the far distant future universe can master

space, might it also be able to master time? The Techno-Core, a loose

confederation of artificial life – artificial intelligence beings in Simmons Hyperion

series send technological agents, including the mysterious Shrike, back through

time to manipulate history to accomplish their ends.246 The Techno-Core is able

to travel backward in time apparently by reversing the flow of entropy. However

time travel may be conceived, presently we are constrained in our actions by the

inviolable forward flow of time, but if our descendents could overcome this

limitation, finding some way to transcend or bypass the specific structure and

dynamics of time within our universe, then the future of life and intelligence could

take on a whole new twist. There are many scientists, including Stephen

Hawking, who believe that time travel into the past is, if not impossible,

astronomically improbable, but aside from the rich history of speculation on this

55

technological possibility in science fiction, there are various scientists who think

that it may be possible in the future to travel both forward and backward in

time.247

Just as reaching down into the primordial quantum foundation of our

universe may open up possibilities for manipulating the fabric and laws of our

universe, we may also find ways to manipulate time. In essence, we may be able

to move into the arena of meta-time, a time above time. The future of the

cosmos and of life and intelligence within it could be reconfigured from some

more fundamental level of existence. Tipler sees the cosmic mind at the end of

time transcending time and literally creating the initial conditions of the universe

for its own eventual realization.248 Aside from Baxter and Simmons, who have

been discussed above, many other science fiction writers have envisioned

futurist scenarios where intelligent beings are able to move across time and

hence transcend it, attempting to manipulate history and the ultimate fate of the

universe. Isaac Asimov’s The End of Eternity and Fritz Leiber’s The Big Time are

two classic stories of time wars and trans-temporal beings, who exist at a level

above the time of this universe.249

Combining a futurist scenario of the coming history of the universe and

intelligence very similar to Adams and Laughlin’s vision with the possibilities of

time travel into the distant past, Baxter, in his novel Manifold Time, considers

how advanced human minds might alter the entire saga of the universe to avoid

some ultimate distant end to life and intelligence. (In his usual flare for integrating

innumerable scientific concepts and themes into his stories, Baxter also weaves

into Manifold Time Smolin’s theory of evolving universes.) Baxter addresses the

deep existential quagmire that even if life and mind continue to evolve into the far

distant future, in the final analysis it all ends, and he finds this conclusion to the

great cosmic saga unacceptable. There must be a way around the inevitable

death of mind. In Manifold Time Baxter offers a possible solution through the

purposive alteration of the entire evolution of the universe.250

Aside from altering the nature of the universe or manipulating the flow of

time, Adams and Laughlin suggest another possibility that could affect the fate of

life and intelligence in the future. This is that there may be areas outside the

observable universe that would in the future become accessible to space travel

and where the laws of our universe do not hold.251 As they note, at present there

is a horizon of observation to our universe, but as time progresses this horizon

extends further outward as light from these distant regions first reaches us. There

are no guarantees that something fundamentally novel or different won’t appear

at the edge of this expanding cosmic horizon. Just as parallel universes may not

obey the same laws as our universe,252 we may discover distant regions of space

with different laws or parameters and by extension, different possibilities for our

continued existence.

One other general consideration relevant to the ultimate future of life,

intelligence, and the cosmos is the possible role of artificial intelligence in the

exploration and colonization of the universe. As already seen, Tipler, for one,

thinks that robots should explore the universe, with humans being seeded along

the way to develop space settlements once the robots and von Neumann

56

constructors have done all the path finding and ground breaking work.253 At a

later time, once the collapse of the universe has begun and things begin to heat

up, Tipler believes that we will need to move our minds into technological bodies

of increasing sophistication to thrive within the increasing heat levels of the future

universe. Our minds and consciousness will move into virtual reality.

Scientists such as Vinge and Moravec go one step further, arguing that

humans, at least in their present form, probably won’t make the journey into

space at all.254 Both Vinge and Moravec foresee artificial intelligence passing

human intelligence by the middle of the 21st Century. If humans attempt to keep

pace with the evolution of technological intelligence they will need to augment

their brains and, as Kurzweil suggests, “wire into” the global intelligence system.

In essence, we will need to become cyborgs. We will also undoubtedly need to

be genetically altered to accommodate to the growing artificial intelligence

network. As our space technology advances in the coming decades, reaching the

level of cost-efficiency and launch capabilities necessary for a full-scale

exploration of the solar system, artificial intelligence, robotics, and genetic

engineering will be creating new types of passengers for the adventure. As noted

earlier, it would clearly make sense to technologically and biologically evolve

humans who are better suited than we for space travel and habitation. Following

this line of thinking, the beings who travel into outer space will probably be

cyborgs and artificial intelligence robots designed to thrive in space and

possessing a level of intelligence far superior to present day humans.

Moravec thinks that robots, of an ever-increasing variety exceeding the

biodiversity of the earth, will explore and populate the solar system in the coming

centuries. Further, as the informational density of these robotic intelligences

increases and their scientific understanding of the universe penetrates the

ultimate structure of nature, they will move their minds into the micro-structure of

matter and space and their bodies will literally become one with the fabric of the

universe. They will extend outward into space through the microstructure of

physical reality and they will transform the universe, assimilating the cosmos into

their intelligent network as they move out through it. They will become Kaku’s

“masters of space and time” and their extending wave of exploration into the

universe will not be carried within starships but rather through the quantum

structure of space. Literally, their minds will move through space. These artificial

intelligence minds will consciously exist in a cyberspace of their own creation and

simulate and inject into their cosmic cyber-reality everything they encounter as

they explore the universe. Further, within their cyber-reality they will create many

alternative versions of this universe and many other possible universes as well.

255

This vision of consciousness and mentality enveloping the cosmos and

creating a hyper-rich cosmic cyber-reality is very similar to Tipler’s theory of a

cosmic mind coordinating and integrating all of existence at the end of time. In

both cases an indeterminately complex and variegated conscious cyber-reality,

extending far beyond the particulars and constraints of our universe, emerges in

the process. Moravec though describes the process of cosmic envelopment as

an extending wave of intelligence that sweeps out across the universe, whereas

57

Tipler describes the emergence of a cosmic mind as a coordinated and holistic

process across the entire extent of the future universe. Moravec foresees the

wave of artificial intelligence beginning to move out across outer space in the

relatively near future; Tipler does not foresee a cosmic mind developing till close

to the end of time.256

Yet in both scenarios conscious intelligence will literally assimilate

physical reality into its web of influence and restructure the universe to support its

existence. Further, in creating a cosmic cyber-reality that extends far beyond the

specifics of this universe, intelligence and consciousness will ascend to a higher

reality above the physical cosmos as we presently understand it. Tipler envisions

an infinite array of virtual universes being created by the infinite cosmic mind at

the end of time. Moravec’s virtual cosmos is only constrained by the absolute

upper limit of information storage within physical space. Having evolved to this

higher plane of existence, there may be ways that we presently do not

understand to either manipulate the cosmos or extend life and intelligence

indefinitely.

We should consider the very real possibility that the universe as it appears

to us today is only one limited aspect of the potential or real totality of existence.

Perhaps the road to limitless evolution and infinite subjective time lies at some

higher plane of reality? As scientists such as Adams and Laughlin, Kaku, and

Smolin, among others, have argued, there are numerous possibilities for realities

that exist outside of our observable universe. The exploration and colonization of

the cosmos may lead us to scientific insights that are only beginning steps on an

infinite journey.

These final cosmic visions, from Adams and Laughlin to Tipler, Dyson,

and Moravec, highlight two important themes regarding our future in outer space.

First, as Wachhorst has argued, the journey into space will transform the human

mind from an earth-centered perspective to a cosmic perspective.257 The goal of

space flight is the attainment of cosmic consciousness. We are going to travel

into outer space to discover the nature of the cosmos and our place within it. As

life and intelligence evolves and extends across the universe, our perspective on

reality will expand and be enriched proportionately. Following from the principle

of ecological reciprocity, by living in the cosmos we will become beings of the

cosmos and attuned to the cosmos. As our civilization grows and diversifies and

our minds evolve in resonance with our stellar, galactic, and cosmic socialtechnological

networks, our personal identities will expand and be enlightened.

We will become part of a greater whole. The light of this immense cosmic whole

will shine upon us, illuminating who and what we are far beyond the dim outlines

and “shadows of the cave” presently revealed to us. We will see ourselves in the

bright light of galaxies and the vast cosmic epochs of time. As Wachhorst states,

spaceflight is a spiritual adventure, an ascension into the heavens above.

The second important theme to consider is the dramatic and

mythological dimension of space travel. As both Zey and Savage emphasize,

there is a myth making quality to our journey into space.258 The term “myth” is not

intended to mean something fictitious, but rather to refer to a story or tale that

gives meaning and significance to some aspect of life, in this case the great

58

cosmic story of our odyssey into the universe. Spaceflight will be more than just

an exercise in technological evolution; it will engage our hearts, our wills, and our

inner faith, as well as our minds. The early space futurists, Tsiolkovsky and

Vernadsky recognized this and considered the total scope of human existence in

their speculations on journeying into the cosmos. Further, the adventure will be a

saga and a drama, as it has been in previous significant periods of human

history. Our journey into space will be filled with emotion, danger, uncertainty,

tragedy, wonder, and triumph. There will be heroes and villains and battles of

both the mind and technology. Space travel will be a story. In fact, the exploration

and colonization of the universe will undoubtedly be an adventure of epic

proportions. It will be the stuff our future dreams are made of.

I would argue that science fiction is the mythology of the future,

providing stories, themes, and archetypes concerning the future. Science fiction

stories, in presenting possible unique scenarios of the future, involving plots,

characters, and dramatic tension, underscore the inevitable narrative quality of

the future. Within this chapter, I have referred to a variety of science fiction

novels and stories that deal with outer space and cosmic civilizations. These

science fiction stories about space give us an initial feel of possible dramas

awaiting us. Having inherited a host of myths and archetypes from our early

earthbound civilizations, we are faced with the spiritual and cultural challenge of

constructing new myths of cosmic proportions to inspire and guide us in the

millennia ahead. We are beginning to create such myths in the great stories of

Asimov, Simmons, Clarke, and Vinge, but as the adventure unfolds and the

cosmos teaches us many new and wondrous lessons, we will fashion and evolve

great epics, filled with inspiring new characters and strange new worlds. These

epics of the future will create a sense of cosmic consciousness filled with the

drama of existence that will be necessary to journey to the stars. Our mental

journey into this new reality has already begun in the stories of science fiction.

More generally, as Anderson states, all theories of the future are ultimately

different stories of how the future could or should unfold. Tipler, Savage, and

Zubrin, though scientists outlining theories and plans for space exploration and

colonization, definitely communicate a dramatic and narrative quality in their

visions of the future. Terraforming Mars, colonizing the galaxy with anti-matter

rockets and Dyson clouds, and enveloping and controlling the cosmos in a web

of hyper-intelligent consciousness are all mesmerizing chapters in the future of

humanity. As one other example of one who bridged the gap between scientifictechnological

speculation and science fiction narration, Olaf Stapledon wrote

spectacular future histories of humanity and the cosmos in which he described

numerous technological possibilities that have inspired scientists and space

futurists, and at the same time created cosmic epics filled with drama and mythic

meaning. However the vision is described or conveyed, the journey into space

promises to give humanity a new perspective and meaning to life that will inspire

and educate us, as well as provide the substance for stories in the millennia to

come.

59

The Promise and Possibility of Cosmic Evolution

“No matter how far we go into the future, there will always be

new things happening, new information coming in, new worlds to explore,

a constantly expanding domain of life, consciousness, and memory.”

Freeman Dyson

“A day will come, one day in the unending succession of days,

when beings, beings who are now latent in our thoughts and hidden in our

loins, shall stand upon the earth as one stands upon a footstool,

and shall laugh and reach out their hands amidst the stars.”

H. G. Wells

Throughout several earlier chapters, based upon the principle of reciprocal

evolution, I developed the hypothesis that humanity, nature, and technology will

progressively integrate in the future. Life and the environment will be infused and

reconfigured with technology, humanity will be altered through genetic

engineering, nanotechnology, and cyborgization, but reciprocally, technology will

be guided by the principles of life and human intelligence.259 Inspired by futurists

such as Stock, Glenn, and Kurzweil, I also discussed in these chapters the

related idea that we were moving in the direction of a holistic integration of

human minds, artificial intelligence, and communication systems that could

conceivably envelop the earth. Gaia will become Metaman and a global

intelligence will evolve on the earth. In the previous chapter on ecology I

presented the view, championed by Easterbrook, among others, that life is driven

to extend itself beyond the earth, and that humanity, empowered with advanced

technology, will be the instrument for the expansion of life into the cosmos. In this

present chapter, I considered the theory, advocated by writers such as Savage,

Tipler, Moravec, and Zey, that the web of communication and intelligence could

spread out across the cosmos and achieve some type of conscious control over

the universe. Life, intelligence, and technology, as an integrated whole, will

“enliven” the cosmos.

Connecting all these futurist ideas is the theory of purposive evolution.260

Intelligence and consciousness, whether biological or technological, (and that

distinction itself will steadily blur) will increasingly guide the evolution of nature

and the cosmos. Presently, our efforts at guiding evolution are relatively primitive

and limited in scope. In the future, as our understanding of biology, ecology,

artificial intelligence, and outer space grows, we will expand our efforts to

terraforming, stellar engineering, and our own self-transformation into beings of

space.

60

As I have argued, purposive evolution, which includes genetic engineering

and intelligence amplification, is an evolution within the process of evolution

itself. Throughout the history of the cosmos, the process of evolution has

advanced through stages of increasing power, flexibility, and speed in furthering

it’s own self-creative development. As Murray-Gell Mann, Kurzweil, and others

have argued, the process of evolution has accrued greater intelligence with the

passage of time. Beginning with the self-organizational dynamics of physical

systems, such as within atoms, molecules, stellar systems, and galaxies, nature

advanced to the level of genetic inheritance, natural selection and symbiotic

relationships within life, and most recently, at least on the earth, the evolutionary

process has been further enhanced with the introduction of culture, science,

technology, and conscious design. In the ongoing interplay of order and chaos,

following Kurzweil’s Law of Accelerating Returns, evolution is creating increasing

intelligence by becoming more intelligent itself.

Space exploration and colonization are natural expressions of evolution.

The journey into space is part of a universal process in the evolution of

intelligence and order within the cosmos. As the universe is colonized, an

increasing level of complexity and organization will be infused into the physical

structures of stellar systems and galaxies. If the universe as a whole is evolving

toward increasing complexity and self-organization, bringing life, intelligence, and

civilization into the cosmos is a further extension of the evolutionary thrust of the

universe. These new levels of complexity across the vast expanse of the cosmos

will involve the unique dimensions of conscious purpose and technological

reconfiguration, hence an evolution in cosmic evolution. Asteroids, moons,

planets, suns, and even galaxies may be redesigned and moved about and

future civilizations may harness the colossal material and energy resources of

the universe.

We could also see the process of purposive cosmic evolution as the

means by which the universe achieves self-consciousness and intelligent

control of itself. Easterbrook has argued that the overall evolutionary direction

and meaning of life is the creation of mind and consciousness.261 As Tipler

suggests, we could see the emergence of a cosmic mind, an intelligence and

consciousness rising up out of the entire universe. Tipler proposes that in the

distant future, as the universe is purposively guided in its gravitational collapse (a

monumental feat in cosmic engineering), this cosmic mind could create an

infinitely rich immortal existence for all intelligent beings within the universe.

What abilities and powers could an intelligent universe manifest? What are the

limits of evolution? Following the lead of Tipler, all of these possibilities at the

cosmic level could be seen as steps in the evolutionary creation of God. For

Tipler, God is a being that evolves out of a self-conscious, self-controlled, and

hyper-intelligent universe.262 Even if one disagrees with Tipler’s particular

scenario regarding the future and the emergence of God, it does seem that the

spread of life and mind throughout the cosmos and the growing envelopment of

physical reality by consciousness and technology will create a universe that is

conscious, indeed self-conscious. If evolution has an ultimate goal, it is the

attainment of cosmic self-consciousness.

61

Yet offering a different scenario of space exploration, colonization, and the

ultimate future of the universe, Adams and Laughlin argue that the universe will

not collapse but continue to spread outward for quadrillions and quintillions of

millennia, perhaps without end. Throughout this vast future history, the

organization and composition of the universe will progress through various

stages, from stellar dominated eras to a cosmos of multitudinous black holes with

atoms larger than the size of our present universe. These future eras will be to

our scale of time as our conscious lives are to the subatomic scintillations of

electrons. Throughout this ever receding future history the unknown will continue

to loom ahead of us, as it does now when we peer into the heavens above,

forever beckoning, forever promising some new odyssey into the infinite

darkness of space and time.

At this moment in time our species exists bound within the spatial

confinements of the earth, and equally limited by the powers of our intellect, the

mortality of our biological bodies, the struggles and apparent infirmities of our

society and cultural values, and our perceptions and philosophies of reality.

Throughout earlier chapters I examined the possibilities of computer and robotic

intelligence and the biotechnological transformation of humanity. These

technological developments, as writers such as Kurzweil, Vinge, and Moravec

predict, will almost certainly lead to the creation of our evolutionary children and

the transcendence of humanity. Yet, just as significantly, reality will be

redefined in the process. As I have described, our evolutionary descendents may

move into a cyber-reality of possibilities and dimensions far beyond our present

world. Furthermore, as has been suggested by both space futurists and science

fiction writers, the possibilities of existence may extend into higher dimensions,

parallel universes, and trans-temporal and trans-luminal realities, to identify just

some of the ideas that have been imagined. In the final analysis, our future

physical and mental evolution, what we may become, as well as the reality and

expanse of the cosmos that we will explore, are open and indeterminate. One

thing though does seem clear; following from the reciprocity of life and the

environment and the reciprocity of mind and the world, as our surrounding reality

expands and evolves, our identities will transform and evolve as well.

As Wachhorst notes, evolution, exploration, and self-transcendence are all

parts of the same process.263 Exploration leads to evolution and evolution leads

to self-transcendence. As I noted earlier, the exploration and colonization of

space is not simply a technological and scientific quest but a psychological and

spiritual one as well. Though technology will support the expansion and evolution

of life and intelligence within the cosmos, it is the drive for adventure, discovery,

and self-enlightenment that will motivate the exploration of the cosmos. Without

exploring the cosmos, we will wither and die. By journeying into the unknown and

extending our reach, we will be nurturing and evolving the spirit of life,

intelligence, and the mind.

Hence, cosmic consciousness may not be a final state that can be

reached, but rather an ever extending perspective, both reflecting on the whole

as it is momentarily understood and on ourselves as evolving explorers within the

universe. The darkness calls for illumination, but the darkness may extend

62

forever, both in space and time. As bearers of the light, we should approach the

cosmos with a sense of purpose, of being part of something grand in scope and

meaning. We should approach the cosmos with wonder and even love, for the

universe is our home, the fountainhead of our existence. We should set sail with

a sense of limitless possibilities and excitement over the mysteries ahead. The

journey into space and whatever realms lie beyond the horizons of the universe

is the “never-ending story”, the truest expression of the infinite and open nature

of tomorrow. There will be no guarantees and no final chapters. That is the

drama of the quest and the ultimate value of the journey.

[Eclogite]

Thunderbird, that's way to long for my poor brain to take in at one sitting and I don;t know if it's worth the effort for more than one. Could you provide a summary or abstract please. It shouldn't be too difficult - after all God gave us a moral code in ten simple rules.:confused:

[Thunderbird]

Thunderbird, that's way to long for my poor brain to take in at one sitting and I don;t know if it's worth the effort for more than one. Could you provide a summary or abstract please. It shouldn't be too difficult - after all God gave us a moral code in ten simple rules.:confused:

 

Sorry, I just thought it was a good paper. This is only the last part of an history of space exploration and conjecture about the role in evolution.

 

I felt that our future in this arena is more in the realm of discovering and taping into a preexisting galactic internet, teleological?, so I search the net to see if anyone had the same view point.

 

The idea is the evolution of the conciseness of the past has observable patterns and phases that can be applied as predictors for our immediate future.

 

 

The primordial cell in the Cambrian sea connects exchanges information thus emerging into a cohesive collective in doing so creates and emerges into a new landscape.

 

The phases progress as animals create ecosystems though symbiosis, man creates separate global civilizations that then hopefully merge though communications into a cohesive cooperative whole. I believe looking at the history of man for the last 5,000 years there is I definite trend toward cooperation.

The trend is first with the trade of goods then progress toward information.

 

 

These patterns of evolution suggest if we are able to bring mankind together into one cooperative cohesive unit, awareness of a lager landscape will follow. This awareness should be an exponential leap. One connecting us with the all sentient beings in the galaxy since this is the next layer in the onion, so to speak. just as a multi-cellular creature gained a whole new awareness of a earthly landscape, mankind's next conciseness should be on the galactic level.

 

Another observation is that life or the consciousness has always balanced itself between two poles, one of reaching out to connect, the other of autonomy, protecting itself, the sacred circle life draws around itself.

 

These two rules can be kept in perfect balance if this galactic communication system is kept on the physically separate, but informational connected.

 

This paradigm differs from the present one that we need to expand physically into the universe to continue our evolution, and population growth.

 

This seems to me impractical a waste of energy with little gain. The future evolution is a jump in awareness and information, not in the physical.

 

If there is an existing instant information system imbedded in the quantum fabric it is all we will need.

[Eclogite]

So:

 

As the Universe has evolved instances have been reached where the network of maximally complex 'things' current at that time foster the emergence of a higher level of complexity.

 

Humanity's apparent increasing commitment to cooperation should promote such a leap, this time in terms of information. To develop to the level beyond we should abandon the goal of physical expansion through the universe and focus on information exchange. This split will likely prove more efficient than alternatives.

 

Is that an accurate reflection of your thesis?

[Thunderbird]

So:

 

As the Universe has evolved instances have been reached where the network of maximally complex 'things' current at that time foster the emergence of a higher level of complexity.

 

Humanity's apparent increasing commitment to cooperation should promote such a leap, this time in terms of information. To develop to the level beyond we should abandon the goal of physical expansion through the universe and focus on information exchange. This split will likely prove more efficient than alternatives.

 

Is that an accurate reflection of your thesis?

 

Bingo ! I could not have said it better.:beer:

[Thunderbird]

Imagine the energy ratio that is expended in the present paradigm of competition and the expenditures of attention to defense of our person, and of nations compared to what a system connecting all potentials of diversity into a cooperative whole .

 

If we were to evolve purely cooperative networks, the energy level of the system would become self organizing, expand exponentially into an autonomous, autopoeitic system. This event would follow the same phase as the model I describe in my paper on the Second Ring of Life in the Cambrian, and would follow the same self organizing principals exploding into the third ring of life, Global conciseness.

 

This phase connects the planets autonomous units into a much more powerful system that is needed in order to bridge the next layer of information in the onion.

 

One on galactic systems level of information.

 

The same basic universal principals apply in all origins of new autopoietic phases. First ring of life, {Cell} Second ring of life {animal life} the Third ring of life {planet} The forth Ring of life... {Galactic}

[UncleAl]

Newtonian gravitation is one short equation. General Relativity is ten equations. The Standard Model fills less than one page,

 

http://www.zamandayolculuk.com/cetinbal/PU/standard1.jpg

Weinberg-Salam model

 

Two primary indicators of bushwa are abundant words and absent maths.

 

1) Stellar Brain, existential quagmire, Metaman, higher level of identity, O’Neil colonies, Taub shear, c-boundary, Omega Point, Stelliferous Age, spirits of space, hypothetical scenarios, Einstein-Rosen bridge, Photino Birds, mysterious Shrike, Manifold Time, socialtechnological networks, ascension into the heavens, Law of Accelerating Returns, trans-temporal and trans-luminal realities

 

2) http://www.mazepath.com/uncleal/analysis.jpg

[Thunderbird]

Newtonian gravitation is one short equation. General Relativity is ten equations. The Standard Model fills less than one page,

 

http://www.zamandayolculuk.com/cetinbal/PU/standard1.jpg

Weinberg-Salam model

 

Two primary indicators of bushwa are abundant words and absent maths.

 

1) Stellar Brain, existential quagmire, Metaman, higher level of identity, O’Neil colonies, Taub shear, c-boundary, Omega Point, Stelliferous Age, spirits of space, hypothetical scenarios, Einstein-Rosen bridge, Photino Birds, mysterious Shrike, Manifold Time, socialtechnological networks, ascension into the heavens, Law of Accelerating Returns, trans-temporal and trans-luminal realities

 

2) http://www.mazepath.com/uncleal/analysis.jpg

 

 

Just replace all this junk with Complexity theory applied to Cosmology/evolution.

 

This should keep the thread from going of track.