New interpretations suggest the "heat death" hypothesis might not hold (2023)

  As such, the second law appears to hold a chilling prophecy for humanity in the very long term.

The idea that our species is so uniquely capable of transcending extinction and surviving long enough for the fate of the universe to be relevant to it is optimistic to the point of absurdity. It fits the evidence better to suppose that we're particularly capable of self destruction.

Even if we don't self-destruct, we will likely have evolved into something else completely different by then. Or maybe a million years from now they will keep some humans (based on present-day DNA) in a museum exhibit somewhere. Or maybe that's us.

I still maintain that we're not just a simulation, we're a screensaver on the computer of some extradimensional office worker who has been out of office for their version of a weekend.

You might like this: https://qntm.org/responsibilit

Loved it! Thanks!

Edit: nevermind, I agree I misunderstood the parent comment.

It's a common response to any interest in the destiny of humanity: "what's so special about humanity? What about bacteria, huh?"

I don't know, I'm human and humans tend to be social and interested in their own species? Is that weird? Does that not apply to you? Do you consider it petty and parochial to be more interested in one's own species? Are you "above" that?

If any bacteria or humans are interested in projecting the future of bacteria and their probability of surviving humanity, they should absolutely go for it.

I don’t think that’s that delichon is saying. It’s absurd to compare the lifetime of ANY species with the lifetime of the universe. The heat death of the universe is like 10^80 years away or something insane. Humans have been around for like… 10^5 years?

Even if something from earth lived that long, it wouldn’t be human. It probably wouldn’t be remotely recognizable!

That was freaking awesome

It’s also the plot of the show Devs

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Devs_(TV_series)

Everything by qntm is phenomenal if a bit rough around the edges. Fine Structure was one of my favorites, along with There is No Antimemetics Division, which is now being published as a proper book!

That's not what the parent comment is saying at all. There's a difference between being interested in your own species and thinking your own species is somehow above the risk of eventual destruction.

Not to mention the existence fallacy - the human tendency to think that it's BETTER for the species to exist forever. I'm not sure that's true.

Humans are the only species in the known* universe to have deliberately left their home planet. We may not be fully capable of it, but we are indeed more capable of transcending extinction than any other known species.

* - which is certainly a small sample

Some will evolve, some will stay. We are evolved from 1 billion year old bacteria, which still there, on Earth.

Thanks for the spoilers

>a bit rough around the edges.

You're right. It almost lost me with this nonsense

>Pi to the last digit? A triviality

Cool stuff though

If you look at who supports this theory, it's all ego-driven software engineers who believe they can solve physics from first principles, ignoring hundreds of years of evidence that these laws do apply.

Highly recommend reading this book for how these sci-fi theories are being used to promote eugenics, climate destruction, and pseudoscience: https://www.amazon.com/More-Everything-Forever-Overlords-Hum...

Loved this story.

Although, *spoiler*, my mind is still having a hard time understanding how the characters could exist before their simulation started.

Did they just not realize that their reality was sped up before the moment where the simulations began?