Max Tegmark on "The Future of Life: a Cosmic Perspective" at Singularity Summit 2011

The Singularity Summit 2011 was a TED-style two-day event at the historic 92nd Street Y in New York City. The next event will take place in San Francisco, on October 13 & 14, 2012. For more information, visit:
http://www.singularitysummit.com

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• cosmology
• futurism

[epitron]

That software he was using to explore the universe was really cool! What's the name of it?

[RestInPieces777]

@silversobe I wonder what Carl Sagan would have had to say about the Singularity.

[DerivedEnergy]

@telephas1c ''and to be honest I'd tend to lean somewhat towards the principle of mediocrity - i.e. that there needn't be anything special about our place in the Universe.''

Observer selection bias.

[frenchdelight]

If an advanced civilization populates enough galaxies to have statistically secured their existence for x number of universal durations, while at the same time sending out waves of von neumann probes to colonize other galaxies and using virtual realities to engage with those beyond the ones they've populated, there is no reason for such a civilization to undergo the effort of physically travelling here.

[nox707]

This must be the dumbest presentation I've ever seen.

[Lucianferre]

Saying that there is no intelligent life in the universe because there is no proof is foolish in my opinion. it may or may not be true - is the only logical answer. it is also foolish to say it is impossible for life to travel here because of distance. We might find in 100 years that our understanding of physics was wrong. There could be intelligences many millions of times greater than ours, that look to us as we do ants... I don't stop at an anthill and ask them to take me to their leader...

[MDEMONIC689]

@MDEMONIC689

His optimism is a sort of arrogance, not a bad type of arrogance but he is suggesting that somehow no other intelligent life exists because they didnt develop warp drive speed.

His reasoning is circular: iv'e seen no aliens=theres no warp drive/light speed=therefore aliens do not exist.

That is a logical failure right there, it's clear his reasoning is more emotional than logical unfortunatly.

[MDEMONIC689]

@Zurround100

He is being an optimist, by assuming lintelligent life exists out there the fact they have never come here or destroyed us, the fact we have no evidence is indicitive that there is a roadblock, such as: they couldn't develop the speed of light or warp drive travel, they blew themselves up, if none of the intelligent life out there overcame the issues we have then clearly we will not either.

I personally am a pessimist and i just think living organisms have limits.

[Zurround100]

is this guy on crack? He really thinks we are alone in the entire universe? That is like the inhabitants of Easter Island thinking they are the only people in the world. I actually believe that intelligent life or even complex life are rare but the universe is HUGE no way in hell are we the ONLY world with life.

[doctororlox]

every day is roadblock

[telephas1c]

Tegmark here seems to make a bit of a deft mathematical feint to explain his opinion that there is no intelligence in the observable Universe beyond ourselves. The bottom line is we simply do not know the variables, and to be honest I'd tend to lean somewhat towards the principle of mediocrity - i.e. that there needn't be anything special about our place in the Universe. The implication from Tegmark is that we pretty much are in the single most special part of the Universe. Not compelling.