Burning the cosmic commons: Evolutionary strategies for interstellar colonization

Abstract

Attempts to model interstellar colonization may seem hopelessly compromised by uncertainties regarding the technologies and preferences of advanced civilizations. If light speed limits travel speeds, however, then a selection effect may eventually determine frontier behavior. Making weak assumptions about colonization technology, we use this selection effect to predict colonists’ behavior, including which oases they colonize, how long they stay there, how many seeds they then launch, how fast and far those seeds fly, and how behavior changes with increasing congestion. This colonization model explains several astrophysical puzzles, predicting lone oases like ours, amid large quiet regions with vast unused resources.

Other Versions

No versions found

Links

PhilArchive



    Upload a copy of this work     Papers currently archived: 101,880

External links

Setup an account with your affiliations in order to access resources via your University's proxy server

Through your library

  • Only published works are available at libraries.

Similar books and articles

Colonization of all forms.Georgina Tuari Stewart, Melitta Hogarth, Sean Sturm & Brian Martin - 2024 - Educational Philosophy and Theory 56 (11):1039-1043.
Space Colonization and Existential Risk.Joseph Gottlieb - 2019 - Journal of the American Philosophical Association 5 (3):306-320.
An Evolutionary Paradox for Prosocial Behavior.Patrick Forber & Rory Smead - 2014 - Journal of Philosophy 111 (3):151-166.

Analytics

Added to PP
2009-01-28

Downloads
188 (#130,710)

6 months
10 (#436,689)

Historical graph of downloads
How can I increase my downloads?

Author's Profile

Robin Hanson
George Mason University

References found in this work

The anthropic cosmological principle.John D. Barrow - 1986 - New York: Oxford University Press. Edited by Frank J. Tipler.
The Anthropic Cosmological Principle.J. J. C. Smart - 1987 - Philosophical Quarterly 37 (149):463-466.

Add more references