Under the theory of eternal inflation new universes keep being created at an exponentially growing rate. If we could find a way to keep sending our surplus population to different universes we could have unlimited growth.
Being able to create new universes isn’t the same as being able to push 10^70 creatures from our universe into each new universe. You could still have subsistence income for the creatures in each universe.
If the time and capital investment to create and exploit a new universe—which potentially includes traveling into that universe yourself—is not large relative to the size of a single universe, then there is an indefinitely repeatable, extremely high-payoff investment you can make, which can outpace any population growth less than that interest rate. Of course you do have to be able to exploit the descendant universe—including to the extent of using those new resources to create more descendant universes—which again would be satisfactorily handled by traveling into it.
But the new universes also have their own population, though I guess you could colonize universes where humans don’t arise rather than universes identical to this one except I didn’t scratch my nose just now
Or just enter the universe early. Suppose our universe were created suchly, and for some reason the creators just had to have a metallic terrestrial planet. Even waiting for all the necessary supernovae, they still have a good billion or 2 years to exploit the Earth before we arose.
And given the Great Silence, it might just be that exploiters don’t need to worry about competition in the new universe.
Under the theory of eternal inflation new universes keep being created at an exponentially growing rate. If we could find a way to keep sending our surplus population to different universes we could have unlimited growth.
Being able to create new universes isn’t the same as being able to push 10^70 creatures from our universe into each new universe. You could still have subsistence income for the creatures in each universe.
If the time and capital investment to create and exploit a new universe—which potentially includes traveling into that universe yourself—is not large relative to the size of a single universe, then there is an indefinitely repeatable, extremely high-payoff investment you can make, which can outpace any population growth less than that interest rate. Of course you do have to be able to exploit the descendant universe—including to the extent of using those new resources to create more descendant universes—which again would be satisfactorily handled by traveling into it.
Well sure if each new person could make their own universe. But that is much stronger assumption than just new universes being possible.
But the new universes also have their own population, though I guess you could colonize universes where humans don’t arise rather than universes identical to this one except I didn’t scratch my nose just now
Or just enter the universe early. Suppose our universe were created suchly, and for some reason the creators just had to have a metallic terrestrial planet. Even waiting for all the necessary supernovae, they still have a good billion or 2 years to exploit the Earth before we arose.
And given the Great Silence, it might just be that exploiters don’t need to worry about competition in the new universe.