XKCD: Paging Doc Smith

[Ted Nolan <tednolan>]

https://xkcd.com/2938/

[Default User]

Post by Ted Nolan <tednolan>
https://xkcd.com/2938/

This showed up in comments on a thread in the Comics I Don't Understand
site, to which some brilliant and knowledgeable contributor replied:


In the Revelation Space series of SF stories by Alastair Reynolds, the
Inhibitors are a race of machines that work to prevent emergent species
from expanding though space. The reason is that if will make it easier
to get the galaxy through the upcoming collision with Andromeda, in
some 3 billion years.

Reynolds has a PhD in astrophysics.

https://cidu.info/2024/05/26/sunday-funnies-lols-may-26th-2024/


Brian

[John Savard]

On Wed, 29 May 2024 06:22:03 -0000 (UTC), "Default User"

Post by Default User
In the Revelation Space series of SF stories by Alastair Reynolds, the
Inhibitors are a race of machines that work to prevent emergent species
from expanding though space. The reason is that if will make it easier
to get the galaxy through the upcoming collision with Andromeda, in
some 3 billion years.

That seems quite bizarre. The collision with Andromeda will result in
at least a few planets becoming uninhabitable, and therefore instead
of expanding into space causing problems, clearly it is imperative for
survival.

So getting the galaxy through the collision with Andromeda without the
loss of any of its intelligent races _requires_ that they all expand
into space!

Of course, though, perhaps they have the even more benign goal of
getting the galaxy through the collision without loss of life. In that
case, no one expanding into space means fewer planets to protect.

John Savard

[Default User]

Post by John Savard
So getting the galaxy through the collision with Andromeda without the
loss of any of its intelligent races requires that they all expand
into space!

You have made incorrect assumptions. No one said anything about about
getting "all" of anything through the collision. In fact, the
Inhibitors are willing to completely destroy existing species if they
deem necessary.

[Cryptoengineer]

Post by Default User

Post by John Savard
So getting the galaxy through the collision with Andromeda without the
loss of any of its intelligent races requires that they all expand
into space!

You have made incorrect assumptions. No one said anything about about
getting "all" of anything through the collision. In fact, the
Inhibitors are willing to completely destroy existing species if they
deem necessary.

There are two scenarios I can see:

1. Spread throughout the galaxy, and accept that there will be some losses.

2. Don't spread, but let the 'Inhibitors' intensely manage the
collision period, shepherding Earth on a safe path.

pt

[Default User]

Post by Cryptoengineer

Post by Default User

Post by John Savard
So getting the galaxy through the collision with Andromeda
without the loss of any of its intelligent races requires that
they all expand into space!

You have made incorrect assumptions. No one said anything about
about getting "all" of anything through the collision. In fact, the
Inhibitors are willing to completely destroy existing species if
they deem necessary.

1. Spread throughout the galaxy, and accept that there will be some losses.
2. Don't spread, but let the 'Inhibitors' intensely manage the
collision period, shepherding Earth on a safe path.

Well, humans of course didn't want to be "inhibited". Of course,
widespread human infestation brings its own problems. *cough* Greenfly
*cough*.

[Dimensional Traveler]

Post by Cryptoengineer

Post by Default User

Post by John Savard
So getting the galaxy through the collision with Andromeda without the
loss of any of its intelligent races requires that they all expand
into space!

You have made incorrect assumptions. No one said anything about about
getting "all" of anything through the collision. In fact, the
Inhibitors are willing to completely destroy existing species if they
deem necessary.

1. Spread throughout the galaxy, and accept that there will be some losses.
2. Don't spread, but let the 'Inhibitors' intensely manage the
collision period, shepherding Earth on a safe path.

Why assume that Earth would be one of the planets the Inhibitors would save?

[John Savard]

On Thu, 30 May 2024 04:07:42 -0000 (UTC), "Default User"

Post by Default User

Post by John Savard
So getting the galaxy through the collision with Andromeda without the
loss of any of its intelligent races requires that they all expand
into space!

You have made incorrect assumptions. No one said anything about about
getting "all" of anything through the collision. In fact, the
Inhibitors are willing to completely destroy existing species if they
deem necessary.

I admitted I hadn't read the book. But it didn't seem that preventing
races from expanding into space would achieve anything in the
direction of "making it easier" to "get through" the collision with
Andromeda.

If that's even an issue, presumably it means they want to cause
_something_ to survive that collision which would not do so without
their intervention, and they're preventing species from expanding into
space to reduce the amount of intervention required.

If it's species they wanted to preserve, that would make no sense.

So I deduced that this might save effort if they wished to preserve
individuals. Yes, that has its implausibilities.

What they _actually_ wanted, I'd have to read the book to find out.
I'm just applying logic to what I read here to see if I can come up
with a plausible way for the book to be consistent with that.

John Savard

[Paul S Person]

Post by Ted Nolan <tednolan>
https://xkcd.com/2938/

Puts me in mind of /Lady and the Tramp/.