I read this, and about ideas like the Von Neumann probe[0] all the time, and it really fills my head with concrete to try and reconcile those ideas with the fact that we haven't found any signs of extraterrestrial life yet. If it's so feasible in a "short" time relative to the age of the universe, where are all the probes?

[0]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self-replicating_spacecraft#Vo...

That's exactly right, nuclear pulse propulsion is all you really need, and that was studied in the 60s with project Orion. The lack of probes is paradoxical i.e. Fermi's paradox (yuk yuk).

A great book that explores this topic (and is pretty funny) is "We are Legion, We are Bob" [1].

Well that and Spin [2], which probably addresses your point - maybe they're out there and they're already messing with us?

Ultimately, whenever I think about Fermi's Paradox, I am reminded of xkcd [3]. Maybe we just can't tell they're right in front of us.

[1] https://www.amazon.com/Are-Legion-Bob-Bobiverse-Book-ebook/d... [2] https://www.amazon.com/Spin-Robert-Charles-Wilson/dp/0765348... [3] https://xkcd.com/638/

Also Revelation Space by Alastair Reynolds for a more sinister solution to the Fermi problem.

The Three Body Problem trilogy (Cixin Liu) also proposes a fascinating (dark) explanation

If you read about this all the time, then you're probably also familiar with the Fermi Paradox and the possible explanations for it. 2016 may have given us a clue as to which one of them seems most likely.

Please elaborate? What did we learn in 2016?

There is a star we've observed between 1400 and 1500 light years away with odd, non-cyclical light fluctuations. It may be indicative of a megastructure being built or falling apart around a star.

Unfortunately, I think a pulsar type situation is much more likely. There's many things that could potentially cause those fluctuations, especially considering our relative lack of knowledge about extrasolar space. In 1967 when we started detecting regular, precise bursts of EMR from deep space it looked a lot like aliens.

Software entities may experience reality a million times faster than we do now. Do you want to wait a quadrillion years to finish colonizing the galaxy? That is a really long time.

Also, if you okay more StarCraft, you won't be so relaxed about claiming unoccupied resources.

> Also, if you okay more StarCraft, you won't be so relaxed about claiming unoccupied resources.

As long as you build your army fast enough to cover them, there's no problem, and you want to be the first to claim those resources.

Yes. That sentence you quoted makes more sense when you replace 'okay' with 'play'.

I do wonder why we exist at all. In that, why hasn't our solar system been consumed by someone else's resource collection process yet.

Maybe we are very lucky. Maybe intelligent life doesn't arise that often. Or maybe it typically self destructs by the time it gets to this point.