Re:The Limits to Growth (1972) [pdf]
by majewsky on Thursday December 14, 2017 @01:34PM
(#15925148)
> "Infinite" exponential growth at the scale of the universe might be possible
Only if the speed of light turns out not to be the hard boundary that it appears to be as of now.
If humanity is bound by any maximum speed (e.g. c, the speed of light), the maximum accessible volume of space is a sphere with radius c * t, where t is the time spent exploring the universe. The volume of this sphere is O(t^3), which is very much not exponential.
Only if the speed of light turns out not to be the hard boundary that it appears to be as of now.
If humanity is bound by any maximum speed (e.g. c, the speed of light), the maximum accessible volume of space is a sphere with radius c * t, where t is the time spent exploring the universe. The volume of this sphere is O(t^3), which is very much not exponential.