futuretalk : Physicists see an end to the universe, but not humanity

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futuretalk

Physicists see an end to the universe, but not humanity

By Dick Pelletier

In Parallel Worlds, physicist Michio Kaku suggests that our expanding universe will one day grow cold and dark, losing its ability to sustain intelligence and life. This will not mean the end of humanity though; we will simply travel to a new, hopefully improved universe and continue our journey into forever.

If this sci-fi-sounding future is to become our destiny, how do we move from today’s crude world filled with threats of terrorism, pandemics, and crime into the futuristic existence that Kaku describes?

It may be a tough and arduous trip, but many forward-thinkers believe we can achieve this incredible future. Astronomer Nikolai Kardashev and other visionaries developed a scheme that divides our road to the future into four civilization types.

Type-1 has mastered all terrestrial energy; they can modify weather, prevent earthquakes, conquer illness and death, and explore their entire solar system. They have eliminated religious and sectarian struggles that hampered their beginnings. If technologies continue advancing exponentially, Earth could reach this plateau by 2100.
Type-2 mines all the energy from their sun and has established colonies in neighboring solar systems. They are virtually immune to extinction. Should technology advance rates increase aggressively, this lofty world could be ours by 2200.
Type-3 controls all the energy from their galaxy. They manipulate space-time, make instant trips to anywhere in the universe, and can bring their dead back to life. Most physicists believe it will take thousands of years to achieve this level, but with an expected post-Singularity intelligence boom, this wonder-time could happen by 2300.
Type-4 accesses all the power in their universe; they can even fashion new universes, endowing them with unique forces that support radically different intelligence and life concepts. These citizens fear nothing and are truly immortal. If all goes well, this god-like existence could be ours some time in the next millennium.

We are slowly moving towards these future scenarios. Advances in nanotech, biotech, infotech, and cognitive science (NBIC), expected in the coming decades could eliminate all sickness, aging and death; and will usher in greater-than-human intelligence, which will increase continually in a never-ending cycle. Scientists call this “the Singularity”, an event horizon beyond which we cannot understand, but which will radically change our world.

We should soon find out if we’re going to make it to Type-1. Utopia or oblivion, there is no third way. If we learn how to survive the coming Singularity, then all problems that plague our planet will disappear. Idealistic dogma, hatred, greed, poverty, war, and selfishness will all be gone. Once we pass this level, it will be smooth sailing as we rush towards our incredible future.

Progress may seem slow, though, and in the background will always lurk the possibility of disaster. However, advancing NBIC could provide an unstoppable force that would minimize, or even eliminate all possibilities of failure.

When Newton first gazed at the vast, uncharted ocean of knowledge, he probably never realized that the chain reaction of events he and others initiated would one day affect all of modern society, eventually forging a planetary civilization about to scatter its populations to the stars. Go “magical future”.

This article will appear in various print media and blogs; comments always welcome. See other published work by Dick at http://www.positivefuturist.com

Published Tuesday, February 21, 2006 10:16 AM by futuretalk

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	futuretalk wrote on February 21, 2006 10:23 AM Futuristic physicists have suggested additional civilization types 5, 6, and 7; which will be covered in future articles. Type-5 creatures roam throughout their multi-verse controlling time travel paradoxes and other far-out issues. Type-6 citizens explore all that existed before the first universe appeared and explain how the first “big bang” happened. Type-7: religion rears its unruly head.
	futuretalk wrote on February 21, 2006 10:45 AM http://www.ibiblio.org/astrobiology/flash/typesofciv1.htm
	nickptar wrote on February 21, 2006 3:22 PM Strictly speaking, at least, the universe is infinite, so you can't control all the energy in it. Even if you use a more flexible definition of Type 4 - that degree of power which is necessary to use the deep structure of spacetime, create new universes, etc. - well, that would be damned nice, and would provide immortality, but it's not necessarily possible. I don't intend to rain on your parade... just point out that this might not come to pass, and transhumanism will probably sound a lot more credible if claims like these are not treated as certainties. (In fact, treating ANYTHING as a certainty is bad. It seems damned unlikely that "dogma, hatred, greed, poverty, war, and selfishness" are going away completely in the predictable future, if ever, regardless of any technological or societal developments.) Well, not necessarily even then. To make immortality worthwhile, a society must continually expand its information capacity; otherwise, it will start repeating eternally, for simple information-theoretic reasons. Nietzsche might not have minded that, but it's undesirable to most of us. But can you transfer an arbitrarily large amount of information to a new universe? And even in one universe, what about latency - if there is an upper limit on signaling speed, couldn't an entity only reach a certain maximum size before its time to complete one "thought" exceeded the lifetime of the universe? It's not so simple.
	futuretalk wrote on February 21, 2006 4:40 PM Futures like these imagined by Kardashev and others will kick in long after Earth’s struggles with NBIC advances, Singularity, and transhumanism become history. Humanity is undergoing its biggest risks now; some experts give us a 50/50 chance of not destroying ourselves with run-away technologies or bad people being spiteful. Should we succeed and achieve Type-1 status, we will still have risks such as a wayward asteroid or some other catastrophe that we cannot envision with our today’s limited thinking, but we will pretty much be on our way. If we reach Type-2, it should be all over but the shouting; nothing should be able to stop us from evolving further. Now if we reach Type-4, which I believe we could achieve sometime during the next millennium; at least before the year 4000, we will be guaranteed many millennia of more history. Researchers at CERN, when they get their new accelerator on line sometime next year should be able to prove that wormholes are possible – of course they will not be able to develop them now, but they will know that it is a future possibility – which will get all the time travel enthusiasts conjuring up all kinds of scenarios for a wild future. However, we still have to get through the next 95 years or so before we can breathe easy. Can this wonderful future happen? Who knows; I am sure rooting for our success.
	George wrote on February 21, 2006 6:22 PM Check it: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astrosociobiology
	futuretalk wrote on February 21, 2006 6:54 PM Kardashev’s reason for theorizing about advanced civilization types was to identify potential aliens by tracking their energy consumption. SETI listened to the arguments, but to date, nobody has garnered any hard evidence of any alien existence by searching for the signs Kardashev thought aliens would exhibit. Personally, this writer believes that civilizations even reaching type 1 status would be so different from us, that we would never identify them by trying to monitor their energy consumption signs. As Spock said in a Star Trek episode about the Organians – “they are as different from us as we are from an amoeba”. I think Kardashev-type civilizations are so advanced, that they are not even aware of civilizations similar to themselves, let alone inferior ones. Though I feel confident we will discover many life forms less advanced than we are, I do not believe we will meet many, if any, that are superior to us. However, I really enjoy fantasizing about far-out futures and hope to live on and become part of what I hope will be a truly “magical future”.