Re: Platonic materialism, and Truth

Anders Sandberg (nv91-asa@nada.kth.se)
Wed, 19 Feb 1997 23:07:20 +0100 (MET)


On Tue, 18 Feb 1997, Eric Watt Forste wrote:

> Anders replies to the Willow:
> >> Indefinite lifespans are boring?
> >
> >Hardly. But the universe becomes a very boring low-density lepton gas;
> >Tipler promises excitement... ;-)
>
> I don't see anything more exciting about the Tipler scenario than
> about the Dyson scenario. Boredom and excitement are not a function
> of ones environment but a function of how well or poorly adapted
> one is to the most recent changes in ones environment. Maladaptation
> is easy to produce, because new challenges are fairly easy to find,
> particularly when ones goals are centered around self-creation
> and self-improvement.

Very true. It should be noted that in the Tipler scenario new challenges
on the physical level does arise an infinite number of times due to the
Mixmaster oscilliations, while in the Dyson scenario the universe becomes
"tame" after a certain time. But of course, that doesn't mean the
challenges for an individual ever ends, as long as the worlds it inhabits
are changing and developing.

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