Featured Research: Is Reality Computed?

1. The Great Filter & Fermi Paradox

The Fermi Paradox is the apparent contradiction between the lack of evidence for extraterrestrial civilizations and various high estimates for their probability. The term was coined by physicist Enrico Fermi involved in the Manhattan Project.

The Great Filter is a proposed solution to the paradox. It suggests that at some point in the development of life from the earliest stages of abiogenesis to the highest levels of development on the Kardashev scale, there is a barrier to development that makes detectable extraterrestrial life exceedingly rare.

Probability Vectors

If the filter is behind us, it means the emergence of life (abiogenesis) is incredibly rare. If the filter is ahead of us, it implies that most advanced civilizations destroy themselves before achieving interstellar colonization (e.g., via nuclear war, AI misalignment, or resource depletion).

2. CRISPR-Cas9 & Gene Drive

CRISPR (Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats) is a family of DNA sequences found in the genomes of prokaryotic organisms such as bacteria and archaea. These sequences are derived from DNA fragments of bacteriophages that had previously infected the prokaryote.

The Cas9 enzyme uses these sequences as a guide to recognize and cleave specific strands of DNA that are complementary to the CRISPR sequence. This technology allows researchers to easily alter DNA sequences and modify gene function.

Ethical Implications of Gene Drives

A gene drive is a genetic engineering technique that spreads a particular suite of genes throughout a population by altering the probability that a specific allele will be transmitted to offspring. Standard drives can result in 100% inheritance, rapidly forcing a trait through a population.

3. Quantum Entanglement

Quantum entanglement is a physical phenomenon that occurs when a group of particles are generated, interact, or share spatial proximity in a way such that the quantum state of each particle of the group cannot be described independently of the state of the others.

Albert Einstein famously dismissed this as "spooky action at a distance" (spukhafte Fernwirkung). However, Bell's theorem and subsequent experiments have consistently confirmed the phenomenon.

Applications include quantum cryptography (QKD) and super-dense coding. Entanglement is considered a fundamental resource for quantum computing.

4. Artificial General Intelligence (AGI)

AGI is the hypothetical ability of an intelligent agent to understand or learn any intellectual task that a human being can. It is a primary goal of some artificial intelligence research and a common topic in science fiction and futures studies.

Key metrics for AGI include:

• Reasoning: The ability to solve problems using strategy and logic.
• Knowledge Representation: Integrating common sense knowledge.
• Planning: Setting goals and navigating steps to achieve them.
• Natural Language Processing: Understanding nuance, context, and intent.

5. References

1. Bostrom, N. (2003). "Are You Living in a Computer Simulation?". Philosophical Quarterly.
2. Hanson, R. (1998). "The Great Filter — Are We Almost Past It?".
3. Doudna, J. A., & Charpentier, E. (2014). "The new frontier of genome engineering with CRISPR-Cas9". Science.
4. Aspect, A., et al. (1982). "Experimental Realization of Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen-Bohm Gedankenexperiment". Physical Review Letters.