To Infinity And Beyond? – What Is The Final Destination?

The phrase “to infinity and beyond” might turn Buzz Lightyear on, but is it really the final destination for you and me? Have you ever wondered how human technology might look millions of years away from now?

I am not talking about the typical science fiction timeframes but much longer ones. We rejoice in speculating our development as a species hundreds of years from now. But something peculiar happens when we try to “speculate” on our future millions of years from now.

If you are a thoughtful person, a sense of unease typically creeps in. All of a sudden, the deep dark eyes of mortality stare back at you. It is the chilling thought of “death”; not of an individual, but that of an entire species; OUR species.

That’s right. We might not exist that far out into the future. But then again, we just might! This essay is about the human journey through time.

I recently came across the work done by Brian Greene, and it really made me ponder the “distant” future of science and technology; the future of humanity. While I am at it, I thought I’d write about it. So here we are.

This essay is supported by Generatebg

The Grim Reaper of Species — Extinction

Our current research estimates suggest that any given species has a typical lifespan from 1 million years (mammals) to 11 million years (marine invertebrates). That in itself is a chilling contemplation. We are talking about ‘lifespans of species’ here (not of organisms)!

Researchers make these estimates from empirical data and mathematical extrapolation models. So, could it be that we are not considering something? Is there hope for humanity to be a species that evades extinction’s scythe forever (to infinity and beyond, remember?).

Well, unfortunately, the numbers are not really in our favour. On the one hand, Paleontologists are continuously discovering fossils of new species. On the other hand, biologists and researchers discover new species of living organisms all the time.

When we run a ledger of all species discovered till date against all living species discovered till date, it turns out that 99% of all species that we know of are now extinct. And the grim story does not end there.

We are only able to record/discover information about extinct species that yield to our methods of investigation. Species with teeth and bones are particularly likely to leave a record of their life as fossils. But what about those that never leave a record as fossils or other forms conducive to human detection?

This is formally known as the survivorship bias in the biz. To put succinctly, the estimate that ‘99% of all species that we know of are now extinct’ is likely conservative!

Given such a scenario, can we really expect humanity to be an exception to the rule? I doubt it. Furthermore, I’d argue that anyone who is reasonable would be sceptical too.

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Nature’s Version of Deus Ex Machina — Evolution

In many stories of fiction, we see the protagonist crawling and struggling through a ridiculously tough and dangerous journey towards a noble goal. Just when she prepares to breathe a sigh of relief after overcoming a mighty challenge, an even more overwhelming foe shows up.

It feels as if our protagonist does not get any break. As the climax fast approaches, the supervillain has our protagonist under his grasp. There does not seem to be ANY hope left. As spirited as she is, our protagonist is fast losing consciousness. It looks like we are headed towards a dark end.

But hold on! Out of nowhere, an elixir of God-like power from the heavens drips like a raindrop onto our protagonist’s forehead. She gains the power to beat the supervillain to a pulp.

The role reversal takes just a moment and restores “wholesomeness” back to our hearts as our protagonist finally reunites with her loved ones.

“And they lived happily ever after…”

This technique is known in showbiz as “Deus ex machina (the God from the machine)”. You might be wondering why I made this rather inappropriate detour. Well, you see, we are dealing with a story here whether you like it or not.

Just switch the protagonist with ‘humanity’ and the supervillain with ‘extinction’, and you will slowly see that we are seeking our version of Deus ex machina to save us from extinction in the distant future.

One of the strongest candidates for the job is evolution; the nature (an algorithm, really) of a species to adapt and survive over long periods of time!

To Infinity and Beyond — The Final Destination

Human beings are a clever bunch. While biological evolution works gradually over generations (centuries for us), we have our own ways of accelerating evolution. I would like to call this ‘technological evolution’.

We are now preparing ourselves for prolonging our existence not just biologically, but also technologically. In more specific terms, we are preparing ourselves for living beyond our biological bodies as numerical personas. I’m not even going into other forms of life prolongation such as cryogenic preservation.

But let us say that all of our primary plans fail. Our current backup plan is to ensure the survival of our intelligence in our stead. Even if our species does not survive as we know it biologically, let us say that we manage to develop advanced artificial intelligence (AI) systems that thrive in challenging conditions.

Since such AI systems emerge from us, we could argue that they are evolved forms of our species. I could keep going on with this line of thought. But remember; our goal is not just any finite timeframe; it is infinity and beyond. That, as it turns out, is more challenging than it meets the eye.

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The Final Destination is Inevitable

I recently picked up a pack of milk from the supermarket. I don’t drink milk often, but this time, I wanted to try this new malt drink-mix that I had purchased on a recent trip of mine. Because of my lack of habit, I hadn’t opened the pack of milk in over ten days.

Yesterday, I finally convinced myself to grab the pack from the fridge. To my horror, the pack was swollen like an airbag. I swiftly turned it around to inspect the expiry date.

I was partly relieved to read that the expiry date was 6 days away. But still, it was obvious that the milk inside had somehow expired. I did not get to enjoy my malt drink yesterday.

Why am I telling you this story? Well, the point I’m trying to make is everything we know of comes with an expiry date. Unlike my recent milk pack, most items outlive their expiry date comfortably. But there is no going away from the fact that nothing lasts forever.

That might sound like a cliché, but let me elaborate. You are probably aware of the fact that stars lose energy over (relatively long periods of) time and eventually expire. This means that planets also eventually expire. Some expired stars transform into black holes.

You might think that black holes are the real deal. But alas! Black holes also eventually expire. What about the universe? Well, sadly, based on our current knowledge, our known universe will also likely eventually expire.

A hypothetical thinking machine that increases its thinking capacity over time will eventually reach a point when it starts producing too much heat for it to function properly any more.

In other words, regardless of what we do, “infinity and beyond” is not likely our final destination. That much is clear.

Final Thoughts

Mathematicians of all ages and backgrounds obsess over the notion of infinity. While this might seem out of reach for most other folks, human beings in general obsess over narratives. To connect these two entities, let us revisit a familiar phrase:

“And they lived happily ever after…”

The key part of this phrase is “ever after…”. It refers to an eternal ending; an infinite timeframe. Greene (and other thinkers) suggests that we, as human beings, are obsessed with eternity and infinity because we are aware of our limited nature and attempt to set ourselves free.

It is perhaps in our very nature, then, to push the boundaries of our expiry date. That is a mildly depressing thought to say the least. But worry not; we are NOT going to end this essay on a grim note (my very own version of Deus ex machina approaches).

In my personal life experience, I have had moments of bliss that felt like eternity. We may perhaps take solace in such moments and celebrate the possibility of experiencing multiple eternities within our life times.

If we are capable of imagination, then surely, we are also capable of imagining and experiencing momentary eternities. Perhaps Buzz knows what he’s on about when he cries, “To infinity and beyond…”

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References: Fred Pearce, Viviane Richter, and Brian Greene.

Acknowledgement: I’d like to thank Nir Zicherman for recommending Brian Greene’s work.

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Further reading that might interest you:

• Why Do You See Mirrors Flipping Words?
• How Easy Is It Really To Predict The Future?
• What Really Happens When You Invent Infinite Infinities?

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