this post was submitted on 25 Jun 2023
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While integers are infinite, humans are not. Eventually the entire population of the earth would be on the tracks and nobody to flip the switch.
Do we consider intelligent aliens to be "person"? Because the universe is also infinite AFAIK
Most scientists agree it is finite.
Do they? There’s broad consensus on the size of the observable part, but what’s beyond that is surely more speculation than science.
Based on observations it seems that the universe curves in on itself. And is thus finite.
I'm pretty the curvature of the universe has actually been measured to be very close to 0, within margin of error, which would suggest an infinite universe. (It doesn't prove it by any means, though. The curvature could just too small to measure.)
However, the observable universe is indeed finite, due to the speed of light being finite.
The entire population of the earth is already on the tracks with nobody to flip the switch, brother.
lights cigar
It depends on if we develop the capacity to colonize off world, and the rate at which each test occurs. Even a one-lever-a-second rate would be out grown by the current population rate, and yet some limiters to population are catching up to us. So long as we can keep the population growth rate high (which involves securing food and habitat for the people) we can outrun the trolley into the forseeable future.