The End of Time

[simonm]

I am just reading the "Dancers at the end of time" trilogy by Michael Moorcock and I think there are some very interesting points in there.

In the book, humanity has advanced as far as is physically possible and have long since converted entire galaxies into pure energy and stored it in such a way that they can channel it through "power" rings that each person wears.

So much enery they have stored that they can literally do anything they want. They no longer age, they have complete control over their appearance and can manipulate their environments at will. They no longer want or strive for anything. What ever their hearts desire, they can bring into being at will.

They live only for pleasure and self-gratification such that they no longer have any morals whatsoever. The have lost conception of right and wrong.


Does anybody think this is a state that the human race will one day reach? Indeed, should the human race even try to reach such a state? Would there be complete moral collapse? Is that a bad thing? If no one is vulnerable, does it matter what one does to someone else?

Do we need suffering and disapointment to retain our humanity?

[InvisibleDuncan]

Originally posted by simonm
Do we need suffering and disapointment to retain our humanity?

My, what a very cheery concept.

[kedaman]

No, that's not our ideal

[simonm]

No, that's not our ideal

What is our "ideal" then?

Is Society not striving to reduce suffering, effort and disapointment?

What if we become ultimately successful at that endeavour?

[kedaman]

The physical world will become less and less important, basically the lack of physical resources and the growth of humanity, the growth of need of physical resources (ex food) needs to be retricted and finally cut off, the need of information will instead take over and strive growing consciousness and so expand the intelligence. Our primal needs and pleasures will loose their importance, we will learn new ways of gaining life experience trough more advanced forms of information, pure information.

So instead of going into a meaningless ownage of the universe, we become aware of how extreemly stupid that would be.

[Fried Egg]

Cool...No more effort...That cant be bad right?

Im all for it...Where do I sign?

[simonm]

So instead of going into a meaningless ownage of the universe, we become aware of how extreemly stupid that would be.

Will we care? We may lose all sense of consequances.

As long as there is still more universe to feed our power generators, all that we desire will be within our grasp. Limited only by our imagination.

What is "pure information", when it's at home?

[InvisibleDuncan]

Originally posted by Fried Egg
Cool...No more effort...That cant be bad right?

Im all for it...Where do I sign?

Sadly, Cornwall will have declared independence from the rest of everything long before this, and as a result all progress within its borders will cease. You'll have to stick to the old fashioned method of making pasties.

Sorry, but you made your bed...

[kedaman]

As long as there is still more universe to feed our power generators, all that we desire will be within our grasp. Limited only by our imagination.

Where's that power is going? Friction? How much of it is part of your life experience? What do you really experience?

The answer is information. You experience nothing more over information, there's no need for power to generate information, just you, your growing database of information is unlimited. The first thing we might do to survive the overgrowth and lack of resources here at Earth is substituting most critical needs with new interfaces that consume less physical resources. Say by eating vegetables, minimize unnessesary transportation, let the internet be your connection to the world, maybe later on transplanting digital media access devices directly to your brain as digital media converges or why not overthrows current lines of life experience, then fully separate mind from body, "mind uploading" meaning our existance is digital information, Then our needs will be phased down to friction of electrical impulses and maintenance of such a system, while the life experience phase can grow without bounds. All consciousness tied together in a network could strengthen a common consciousness, our Gaia

[simonm]

there's no need for power to generate information

Ah! But one must expend energy to destroy information. According to information theory, anyway.

[HarryW]

Originally posted by InvisibleDuncan
Sadly, Cornwall will have declared independence from the rest of everything long before this, and as a result all progress within its borders will cease. You'll have to stick to the old fashioned method of making pasties.

Sorry, but you made your bed...

LOL

[Fried Egg]

I am a Cornish time traveller from the future and can tell you that in 25 years from now, Cornwall achieves it's dream: independance.

Once we are free of the shackles of saxon domination, we soon become a rich and powerful nation, eventually becomming a superpower! Right On!

From there we dominate english culture and overwhelm it with our SUPERIOR culture and language until the english are nothing but a long forgotten race.

It is we, the Cornish, that shall invent the first matter decompiler thus be able to realise the dream of a virtually limitless resource of energy...

[Beacon]

Bah kedamn i want some of the harsh **** your on!!!

"All consciousness tied together in a network could strengthen a common consciousness, our Gaia "

And we all be attacked by what'll turn out to be ghosts but we wont be able to stop the government firing the Zeus cannon off right!


But seriously thats a very summary of what you believe what'll happen?
What'll happen to get us there?
Will we even get there or be sucked into a black hole or even better be nuked into in-existance!

[nishantp]

Simon and Ked, our neibourhood philosophers.

[Beacon]

Nup:

Simon and ked our neighbourhood explainers of phenomenom!!

According to keddie!

Of course it all refers back to thier own ENVIRONMENT!

[nishantp]

We better not start.

[Beacon]

Let alone mention Warm Beer and ales etc etc.

[kedaman]

Originally posted by simonm

Ah! But one must expend energy to destroy information. According to information theory, anyway.

Information is indestructible isn't it? Anyways refering to a physical world i'm just holding a dangling pointer

[simonm]

Originally Posted by Kedaman
Anyways refering to a physical world i'm just holding a dangling pointer

Man, put it away! I've just had my dinner and I really didn't welcome the sort of image that brings to mind!

[kedaman]

I thought it was a term only used between programmers

[simonm]

I thought it was a term only used between programmers

I hope not...I'm picturing you standing there, trousers round your ankles, dangling pointer in your hand...

I've got a sick mind I know...

[kedaman]

Functors...

Templates...

iostream...

Okok, just testing (while holding a neurotic scanner in one hand over simons head)

Dangling pointers... (Getting critical readings, argh the scanner broke)