Re: poly: Re: polymath digest for 06/12/97

From: Anders Sandberg <asa@nada.kth.se>
Date: Mon Dec 08 1997 - 09:28:17 PST

brin@cts.com (d.brin) writes:

> (1) galactic differential rotation 'smears' any spherical expansion shell.
> (Inner parts of the galaxy rotate faster).

This effect is likely to be too slow to be of any consequence, since
the expansion appears to be close to lightspeed; stellar motions are
insignificant compared to the replicator speed.

> (2) Bear in mind that complex ecosystems act to prevent prairie fire
> reproduction orgies. But such ecosystems are not in place at the beginning.
> When a virgin enthalpy source begins being exploited for the first time,
> the opportunistic species may breed spasmodically, use everyting up, and
> leave a wasteland behind, Wild swings of population may occur until
> predation and other limiters talke hold. This is one possible explanation
> for the local 'Great Silence.' (I'm discussing it in a coming novel.)

Reminds me of the ecosystems of a hay infusion.

Life seems to move towards self-organized criticality in the long run,
but it would be interesting to study the known cases of transients
when it starts far from it.

-- 
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Anders Sandberg                                      Towards Ascension!
asa@nada.kth.se                            http://www.nada.kth.se/~asa/
GCS/M/S/O d++ -p+ c++++ !l u+ e++ m++ s+/+ n--- h+/* f+ g+ w++ t+ r+ !y
Received on Mon Dec 8 17:20:11 1997

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