THE COMING DARK AGE

Newsletter

December, 2005

1. INTRODUCTION

This newsletter deals briefly with the super-long-term history of the
human race.

Past editions of the newsletter are on the coming dark age website. I
welcome all comments, suggestions and contributions, especially the
latter.

http://www.darkage.fsnet.co.uk/

Please forward this newsletter to anyone you think might be interested.

Marc Widdowson - news@darkage.fsnet.co.uk

2. SUPER-LONG TERM HISTORY OF HUMANITY

Dark age theory, as my friend DB recently reminded me, states that “on
sufficiently long timescales, no gains are permanent”. If modern
cosmology is to be believed, the universe itself may one day collapse
back into who knows what, or at any rate may suffer a “heat death” when
all thermodynamic potential is used up and complex phenomena, such as
life, become impossible. In this case, even the human race is limited
by the laws of physics and its future achievements, however great, must
eventually go for nothing as the universe runs out of steam, or falls
back on itself in a Big Crunch. It follows then that indeed, on long
enough timescales, no gains are permanent, and whatever may be
accomplished by individual humans, or by the species as a whole, it
cannot help but be wiped out in the long run.

To be set against this is the notion of dark age theory that the basic
story of human existence is one of perpetual progress, where temporary
setbacks—of which dark ages are the most extreme manifestation—are
simply part of the mechanism by which progress is achieved. In this
respect, dark age theory foresees a tremendous future for the human
race and supposes that it is humanity’s destiny to conquer first the
earth, then the solar system, then the galaxy, and finally the entire
universe. In this respect, ‘conquest’ does not mean simply travel and
exploration, but is more importantly about understanding and control.
Dark age theory thus asserts that the universe is a great enigma, of
which the human race, in its present condition, comprehends next to
nothing (pace Stephen Hawking et al.). Ahead of humanity lies a great
journey of discovery, whose eventual destination is a final and perfect
insight into the mysteries of existence.

According to biologists, the typical lifespan of a terrestrial species
is about a million years. The timescale for the end of the universe, by
contrast, is over a billion times greater. If humans do eventually
conquer the universe, they will surely not look like humans do today.
They will have been transformed into something far more capable and
exotic, perhaps through genetic engineering and/or some kind of
cyberisation. Such highly evolved entities, when they finally
comprehend the universe, may be capable of re-creating it. It is
possible, however, that they may themselves be annihilated in the
process. This would be the ultimate realisation of the phoenix
principle, comprising the destruction and re-birth of the entire
universe. Such has, of course, been the theme of various science
fiction novels. The work of Olaf Stapledon is recommended. It may
nevertheless be true, and the fundamental point remains: “on
sufficiently long timescales, no gains are permanent”.

Dark Age Watch

news@darkage.fsnet.co.uk

http://www.darkage.fsnet.co.uk/