"Permanence" - An Adaptationist Solution to Fermi's Paradox?

Russell Wallace wrote:
[...]
Exactly: the ability to read, and learn large amounts of complex
information in part from books and other media, will be selected for.

The knowledge and the knowledge sharing media will evolve also, in
parallel to whatever entities make use of that knowledge base.


We have examples of similar parallel evolution here on Earth. Humans and
domesticated animals are just one example. A more recent rapid example
is more dextrous thumbs for mobile phone text messaging!

Regards,
Martin

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On 15 Sep 2004 13:37:52 -0400, Joseph Lazio
wrote:

Catching up on my email I found the following. Seems I have some
sci-fi reading to do as well.

Paper: astro-ph/0408521
Date: Fri, 27 Aug 2004 10:40:52 GMT (617kb)

Title: "Permanence" - An Adaptationist Solution to Fermi's Paradox?
Authors: Milan M. Cirkovic
Comments: 23 pages, 2 figures

A new solution of Fermi's paradox sketched by SF writer Karl Schroeder
in his 2002. novel "Permanence" is critically investigated. It is
argued that this solution is tightly connected with adaptationism - a
widely discussed working hypothesis in evolutionary
biology. Schroeder's hypothesis has important ramifications for
astrobiology, SETI projects, and future studies. Its weaknesses should
be explored without succumbing to the emotional reactions often
accompanying adaptationist explanations.

( http://arXiv.org/abs/astro-ph/0408521 , 617kb)

If we accept the theory that intelligence reaches a limit and then
there's nowhere to go but down, what if that limit is well above
human?

We might encounter human-equivalent intelligences who were descended
from God-like beings but who are now on the Downward Path.

--
http://hertzlinger.blogspot.com

Joseph Hertzlinger m wrote in message link.net...

If we accept the theory that intelligence reaches a limit and then
there's nowhere to go but down, what if that limit is well above
human?

We might encounter human-equivalent intelligences who were descended
from God-like beings but who are now on the Downward Path.

Clearly, they are buddhists.

Karl M. Syring