
Is Virtual Reality the Surprising Solution to the Fermi Paradox? - sirteno
https://singularityhub.com/2017/01/01/is-virtual-reality-the-surprising-solution-to-the-fermi-paradox
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MildlySerious
I honestly don't understand this mindset. They're valid theories alright, but
to me it seems counter intuitive.

So, we strive for information density. That doesn't mean there are no other,
very valid, reasons to expand. Planets and stars die. Even if whatever
intelligence is living in its own simulated Eden, there's reason to observe
the outside and not stick to one place. Meaning space travel would still be
happening to some degree. Even if just tiny probes, it would be happening. Not
as much as the classic sci-fi space-faring civilization, but there is still
reason to become a type 3 civilization.

On a separate note, while that is more speculative, if we argue for the Fermi
Paradox by just our observations, we might as well argue against the
Transcension Hypothesis by just our observations. Not on a technological
level, but by how we see intelligence work for us.

Our intelligence is not inwards facing. We want to share what we know, and we
want to create and know what others know. Locking ourselves into a simulation
means abandoning the idea - and search - of external intelligence. Even if
there is a way to connect clusters of these dense intelligences together, may
they be individuals, whole civilizations or whatever beyond our imagination,
turning your back to an almost infinite universum of potential unknowns seems
anything but intelligent and we have no more reason to believe that this is
intrinsic to humans than our lacking observational skills are.

I wonder if you can get beyond that point and realize your own world is the
best you've got despite all that's out there without ever becoming space-
faring in the first place. Going straight to "I don't care, just leave me be"
mode seems an awful lot like it has the same end game as putting all of
humanity into a lifelong endorphine-laden coma until we all die out. No
transcension needed for that.

