the Daily Whale - 27 October 2009

Solipsism Revived

Now consider yourself a random sample from all minds throughout spacetime. Suddenly the universe becomes more lonely. There is not only no great future, but also no great alternative. Perhaps a few intellects vast and cool and unsympathetic are plotting to take over your planet, but there can be no galaxy-spanning alien empire of trillions of individuals, now or ever, because if there were you’d probably be part of it.

One more. Consider yourself a random sample from all living things on Earth. Oops, you probably don’t exist. Nearly all living things are microscopic.

clue:

If you bought the last one, do you still buy this one? Imagine every mind in the universe making the argument: “There probably are no supercivilizations anywhere in space or time that dwarf the sum of all civilizations like mine or smaller.” The argument is valid, because no matter what the facts are, most minds will come out on the right side of them. But it’s unsatisfying, because *everybody* gets to make the argument, and some may be wrong.

27 October 2009 - universal population

clue: