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by adastra22 972 days ago
The wait equation is totally irrelevant here. Where the wait equation has relevance is the fact that a generation ship, once launched, is likely unable to reconfigure itself to take advantage of new technologies invented while it is underway. This is key to why there is an incentive to wait, and there is no parallel in the idea of investing in AI. Someone who chooses to invest in AI does get access to tech that develops in the mean time. Indeed it is that investment which generates the the technology.
2 comments
davedx 972 days ago
Alastair Reynolds covered this theme extensively in Chasm City, including technology advancements being transmitted to generation ships en route from the home system and the consequences of that. Super interesting reading!
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mo_42 972 days ago
> Where the wait equation has relevance is the fact that a generation ship, once launched, is likely unable to reconfigure itself to take advantage of new technologies invented while it is underway.

Given my experience with complex technology (software), I think it's rather likely that a generation ship will reconfigure while traveling.

Maybe we will build a ship that's just enough to bring them to a place with lots of resources. Then, it will be rebuild with those resources for the final journey. Or even new ships might be build out of existing ones to adapt for varying conditions.

Similar to biological life on earth.

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adastra22 972 days ago
The thing it would have to reconfigure to get to its destination faster is its drive and fuel. These are not things that at it can likely change during the trip. You can't digitally transmit antimatter or a different fusion fuel mixture, nor could you reconfigure the reactor or engine chamber to burn something that it wasn't designed to burn, even if you could supply different fuel.

Pretty much all scenarios for accelerating to cruise speed and decelerating at the other end involve very high density fuels produced using a significant fraction of the energy of the Sun. You're not going to be able to stop in the middle of empty space where there is absolutely nothing in order to reconfigure and refuel.

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