
Regardless of what religion we consider, the concept of God as creator is linked to the origin of the Universe and everything in it.
This means that if our scientists had a recipe based on quantum gravity for the ingredients and heating process that led to the birth of our Universe in the womb of the Big Bang, they would be well on their way to gaining the professional knowledge of God. The missing piece may be a particle collider that could create the conditions necessary to create a petite universe. Are there any alien scientists in the Milky Way with this knowledge?
For now, we have confined clues as to the actual process that gave rise to our universe, so the endless possibilities remain a matter of faith. The basic principles underlying quantum gravity are unclear because the enormous energy density that was created in our cosmic beginning cannot be reproduced in the observable universe. Our only hope is to detect a gravitational wave signal from cosmic inflation or a thermal graviton background from Planck's time.
A higher level of intelligence that processed much more data about the Universe could come closer to the idealized wisdom of God. For the first time in the history of humanity, we are dealing with superhuman intelligence in the form of AI, brief for artificial intelligence – our technological product or alien intelligence – of extraterrestrial origin. The commercial benefits of this first form of artificial intelligence are widely recognized as a tool that can outperform humans in processing massive amounts of data in a brief period of time without suffering human psychological weaknesses.
The second idealized feature of God is omnipresence. In principle, if the Universe was created by quantum gravity scientists and this allowed the birth of quantum gravity scientists, then the cycle of Universes being created in Universes could continue forever.
In the context of longevity, repairing our body after damage or malfunction so that it never dies seems an easier problem to solve than creating Planck energy density to give birth to the child of the Universe in the laboratory. In fact, synthetic biologist George Church suggested during my recent conversation with him that the two of us may never die and we can plan to continue talking a thousand or a million years from now. Longevity is a trait favored by Darwinian selection for “survival of the fittest.” The most advanced scientists in the Milky Way are probably the ones who will never die.
If astronauts could live for millions of years, they could travel interstellar using conventional chemically propelled rockets.
Cosmic time is measured in billions of years. When Enrico Fermi asked, “Where is everyone?” in the summer of 1950, he based his question on the knowledge he had accumulated during his mere 49 years on this Earth. Astronauts like Fermi, who travel through interstellar space and visit exoplanets, would be much more learned in answering this question.
They can find an abundance of microbes in extraterrestrial swamps, animals climbing on the vegetation of exoplanets, and the ruins of technological civilizations that have lost their livelihoods due to nuclear or biological warfare, through the loss of atmosphere, due to an asteroid impact, or as a natural victim of the brightening of a host star. Living longer has the benefit of gaining more data about our cosmic neighborhood, allowing us to better adapt to it. A Fermi-like astronaut with millions of years of space experience might say, “Here you are!”
During a recent meeting with a group of theologians, I was asked about the religious implications of the discovery of extraterrestrial intelligence. I noticed that I have two daughters and my love for the one who was born second did not eliminate the love I had for the first one. It would be degrading to consider God as a parent who can only care for one child. Knowing about your siblings and recognizing those who are better than you should only boost your sense of admiration and appreciation for your parents.
Discovering our cosmic roots, knowing about our cosmic home and its inhabitants, and avoiding dying will bring us closer to the idealized way of thinking of God described in time-honored religious texts.
What we do with the enormous power that this knowledge gives is up to us. As soon as scientists mastered nuclear physics, it became clear that we could exploit it for good – as a source of immaculate energy, or for evil – as a weapon. Similarly, AI could be used as a means to improve quality of life or as a weapon with devastating consequences for mental health or national security.
Life can be a self-fulfilling prophecy, so it's better to look into the future with optimism. We can achieve more if we focus on what really matters: data-driven wisdom and longevity. These are worthy substitutes for the popular “likes” that many seek on social media and attempts to degrade the happiness of other people who disagree with us. From a cosmic point of view, these toxic activities are a waste of our miserable life on this planet.
Will future humans be more kind and generous if they live forever and benefit from increasing their intelligence through artificial intelligence? This is not a philosophical question. An astronaut like Fermi could conduct a happiness survey and quantify the statistics of civilizations like ours over the last few billion years. Are those who gain longevity and wisdom happier?
My bet is final: “Yes!” That's why I lead a well lifestyle and look up, not down Galileo project observatories. I hope that finding a smarter student in our technological civilization class will inspire us to do better.
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