>Joost added:
><They [the probes] could 'drop off' their gathered knowlegde like
>their 'seeds' at every new 'colony' they create, the knowledge could
>then be brought back at lower speeds by a fourth type of unit, that
>gathers information and spreads it between the colonies, not just
>between colonies that were created by the same probe, but far more
>efficiently by passing at least one colony of each probe, on its way
>back to earth. >
>This is a good idea and would probably require a "3 gender structure".
> I was really thinking that the probes wouldn't gather that much
>*knowledge*, except a continually more detailed map of hostile and
>hospitable regions of space. Still, this knowledge would be useful for
>those colonists who wanted to move on at a slower pace.
The *knowledge* i was thinking of would also include improvements to the
probes themselves, so they could deal more efficiently with problems they
ran across...
>Also, I was thinking that the probes wouldn't be very creative and
>would stay fairly static in order to devote their resources to
>expansion and preservation of the 'species'. The problem that I was
>really wondering about was how the lingering colonists might provide
>updates to the probes and whether this would even be desirable.
>As you say:
><If the probe 'drops' it's latest knowledge at it's last colony, they
>can make new probes that include technology based on that new
>knowlegde.>
Whether this would even be desirable ?
How do you estimate the chances for long term expansion and preservation of
any species with a static society/technology ? I think this exchange of
knowledge should be especially important in the case of a threathening
catastrope.
Eliezer Yudkowsky wrote:
>The lingering learners would go at slightly less than the speed of
>light, thus allowing the whole area to remain in constant communication,
>in the sense that an idea occurring at any point in the sphere will
>eventually expand to the rest of it. The problem is that this creates
>an ever-widening sphere of ignorant probes, and as soon as an area
>becomes intelligent, it is annihilated by the onrushing catastrophe.
Yes, this is why i suggested the 3 gender system, the probe would drop the
seeds of the 'species', but also 3rd type units, that immediately begin
reproducing the probes, new technology based on the previous probes
experiences added. The seeds for the species would just need to be dropped
to increase the slim chances that the catastrophe might 'miss a spot', or
that one of the colonies might develop the technology to escape or stop the
catastrophe....
Chris Hind wrote:
>>If the probes don't stop, you are placing the task of reproduction of
>>those probes in the hands of whatever 'seeds' they leave behind,
>>therefore the individual 'seeds' would not have much time either, to
>>'smell the flowers'. The only goal of such a culture would be
>>Expansion,
>Remember as history shows, expansion occurs in waves. First colonies
>develop all over a planet in a very sloppy manner and then the colonies
>grow to fill in the empty spaces at a slower but much more efficent rate.
In our original *brainstorming*, there was the time limit element, generated
by a catastrophe following behind the probes.
>The same occurs in brainstorming. You get a bunch of vaguely associated
>ideas and then manipulate and merge them to fill in the blanks to create a
>story or thesis.
The same occurs in replying to postings. You find a posting that vaguely
interests you, and then go back and read the earlier postings in the thread
to create a sound and solid reply. ;-P
Joost de Lyser
surreal@glo.be