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Recent thoughts - Sparking life in the Quantum Algorithmic Universe? (August 22, 2007)

As I prepare to start the next phase of the DigitalSpace efforts by contributing its open source platform Digital Spaces (DSS) to the Biota project for "hyperevolution" experimentation, the following thought came. While reading Seth Lloyd's new book "Programming the Universe: A Quantum Computer Scientist Takes on the Cosmos" it suddenly came to me that one way to "seed the cosmos" with life is to take a serious shortcut, instead of going outwards, ie: to propagate Earth-derived life forms, engineered and evolved out of bulk matter and chemistry, to gradually start to live out in the solar system on icy (cometary) objects or Near Earth Objects, one could instead "seed the very small" and generate life at the quantum-algorithmic level. One might agree that the path to this is through a set of lifelike algorithms that would first run on traditional silicon-based computing substrates then be "ported" to a quantum computing substrate. What would be a consequence of running these "game of life" algorithms on a quantum mechanical computer? Well, instead of the code being only able to execute within the atoms of a slowly developing macro forms, the code would instead evolve and propagate throughout the quantum medium. Thus the life forms that take hold at this level would be able to adapt to different gravity, molecular composition of the local environment, and even energy levels including temperature. Life at this level would be able to spread across ordinary boundaries (such as planetary gravity wells, or the vaccuum) and out across the universe everywhere there exists a suitable quantum mechanical information medium.

Having evolved to coopt the quantum informational medium to the processes of life, the new forms of life would start to transform the entire universe. This would become visible and apparent after a time through observable changes in the basic properties of matter and energy. It could be that the dual goals of creating a conscious entity out of the all matter and energy as well as the slowing of the cosmic expansion and unification of the entire universe within that conscious entity could both be achieved through this "back door". Our species, having discovered the quantum computing nature of the universe and the ability to embody life processes in algorithms able to execute in this quantum mechanical environment, would be able to effect this phase transition between ordinary quantum algorithmic matter and life-infused quantum algorithmic reality.

Would such a life-infused universe become conscious? Is such a universe already present? What would our fate be during and following this phase transition? These are all big questions.

Bruce Damer, 22 Aug 2007

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