weemba@brahms.BERKELEY.EDU (Matthew P. Wiener) (03/01/86)
In article <8602282233.AA04465@s1-b.arpa> REM%IMSSS@SU-AI.ARPA (Robert Elton Maas) writes: > If there had been a black death in >Europe, the New World might been able to escape it by careful >restrictions on cross-Atlantic travel. And maybe not. >Now as we go into space during the next century, probably we can >escape total anihilation simply by being dispersed. Weapons will >eventually catch up with solar-system inhabitants, but by that time >the frontier will have been extended to nearby stars. Weapons will >eventually catch up with nearby stars, but by that time the frontier >will have been extended to the whole galaxy. Perhaps somebody will >someday figure out a doomsday machine for the whole galaxy, but by >that time we will have extended to the whole Universe. Due to billions >of years transit time across the Universe, I doubt any doomsday >machine could possibly destroy the whole Universe; it'd evolve into >something else before it managed to traverse all that time, probably >waging war against variants of itself and leaving miniscule humans >untouched. Is this net.sf-lovers or what? Seriously, nobody knows a damn thing about what will happen when we get out there. Us minuscule humans might run into majuscule xenophobic aliens who keep sensors around Alpha Centauri, Procyon, Epsilon Eridani, etc. A nearby surprise supernova could botch your plans, etc. AI robots could attack their human creators, etc. > In short, I'm not sanguine, weapons might catch up with us >and destroy us even in large space, but I rather doubt it You doubt it. Glad you know what's going on. Me, I have *no* idea what will happen in 1000+ years, and can imagine dozens of scenarios. > and would >rather rely on that strategy than stay here on teensy Earth. Are you relying on that strategy to keep the race alive or do you just want to go out there? I would rather NOT rely on any strategy. I would prefer genuine sanity, peace on earth, pax in caelo. And no sci-fi. ucbvax!brahms!weemba Matthew P Wiener/UCB Math Dept/Berkeley CA 94720
jimb@ism780 (03/07/86)
> And no sci-fi. > Matthew P Wiener/UCB Math Dept/Berkeley CA 94720 Tsk, tsk! Reality is just a crutch for people who can't handle science fiction! (stolen from somewhere else....) -- from the musings of Jim Brunet ihnp4/ima/ism780B hplabs/hao/ism780B sdcsvax/sdcrdcf/ism780/ism780B