Tech levels and the end of the universe

[Morrus]

When the universe ended, not many people noticed.

To be frank, the original universe had not been fashionable for a couple of trillion years. Companies like Infernotech Megacorp and the Transtellar Food Company (which hadn't dealt in food commodities for over a billion years) had fashioned so many pocket universes - some themed, and some not - that the original had long been deserted. The whole heat death thing hadn't helped - who wanted to go to the trouble of harnessing black hole clusters for energy when you could just pop through a multiverse wormhole to a brand new universe with only a billion years on its clock?

There were the die-hards, of course. They piloted black holes for fun and reformatted the remaining matter into personal supergalaxies. They planned to eventually jump-start a new Big Bang; they'd be safely protected from reality behind quanto-singularity horizons. But, to be honest, most folks had moved on and corporeal existence was considered something of a faux pas in at least 17 universes. One universe, privately owned by an eccentric janitor, even prohibited the existence of matter by law; sadly, it's proscribed punishment of "death" merely confused everyone. That wasn't a concept anybody was familiar with other than some time-travelling historians who reported that everyone only lived short lifespans of a billion years or so back in the ancient past.

There was no end, and there never could be. The creation of new universes was an industry of mass-production now. There were more universes than there were people, and over half of them were infinite in size. Some folks liked to tinker with the laws of physics and set universes going for 15 billion years or so to see what happened.

 

[Sword of Spirit]

Cool.

One solution option (more of a setting idea than anything) is that there was nothing stopping technological advancement in that universe--which is why only one species ever advanced all the way. When they got there, they hid their existence and constantly monitored the universe to make sure no one else advanced beyond x level.

 

[Morrus]

Cool.

One solution option (more of a setting idea than anything) is that there was nothing stopping technological advancement in that universe--which is why only one species ever advanced all the way. When they got there, they hid their existence and constantly monitored the universe to make sure no one else advanced beyond x level.

Well, the exact details of their settings I'll leave to individual GMs. I'm sure each will come up with their own awesome ideas, or use awesome ideas from elsewhere. I just need to be sure the tools are there to enable them to do that.

 

[GMMichael]

[MENTION=1]Morrus[/MENTION]: your technology scale is missing a very important element; a society's ability to survive itself.

Even the collision of Andromeda with the Milky Way is unlikely to destroy even a society like ours, simply change the constellations up a bit. The space between stars in a Galaxy are so vast that odds of a direct collision are extremely low, and anyone society that existed on a handful of stars could survive even that.

You don't think that dramatically altering (doubling?) the amount of matter in a finite area would cause significant, life-altering, changes?

 

[Umbran]

You don't think that dramatically altering (doubling?) the amount of matter in a finite area would cause significant, life-altering, changes?

In general, for the most part? No.

For a while, there'll be a burst of new star formation as the clouds of gas and dust in the galaxies are perturbed. A few stars that would have had nice, normal orbits may get tossed into the supermassive black holes in the centers of the galaxies. But, for the most part, the only thing that will happen is that stars will change their paths in the sky. They will just take their planets with them, and not notice a darned thing.

And it will all take place on a time scale so great that individual mortal creatures won't notice it.

 

[herrozerro]

off topic

 

[tomBitonti]

In general, for the most part? No.

For a while, there'll be a burst of new star formation as the clouds of gas and dust in the galaxies are perturbed. A few stars that would have had nice, normal orbits may get tossed into the supermassive black holes in the centers of the galaxies. But, for the most part, the only thing that will happen is that stars will change their paths in the sky. They will just take their planets with them, and not notice a darned thing.

And it will all take place on a time scale so great that individual mortal creatures won't notice it.

Btw, nice write up, up-thread.

Wikipedia has this to say:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andromeda–Milky_Way_collision

The fate of the Solar System

See also: Formation and evolution of the Solar System#Galactic collision and planetary disruption

Two scientists with the Harvard–Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics stated that when, and even whether, the two galaxies collide will depend on Andromeda's transverse velocity.[2] Based on current calculations they predict a 50% chance that in a merged galaxy the solar system will be swept out three times farther from the galactic core than it is currently located.[2] They also predict a 12% chance that the Solar System will be ejected from the new galaxy some time during the collision.[12] Such an event would have no adverse effect on the system and the chances of any sort of disturbance to the Sun or planets themselves may be remote.[12][13]

Without intervention, by the time that the two galaxies collide, the surface of the Earth will have already become far too hot for liquid water to exist, ending all terrestrial life, which is currently estimated to occur in about 3.75 billion years due to gradually increasing luminosity of the Sun.[14][15]
Possible triggered stellar events

When two spiral galaxies collide, the hydrogen present on their disks is compressed producing strong star formation as can be seen on interacting systems like the Antennae Galaxies. In the case of the Andromeda–Milky Way collision, it is believed that there will be little gas remaining in the disks of both galaxies, so the mentioned starburst will be relatively weak, though it still may be enough to form a quasar.[13]

 

[Thondor]

your technology scale is missing a very important element; a society's ability to survive itself.

DMMike makes an important point. I also want to add that surviving itself is does not necessarily mean complete destruction.
Civilizations have a tendency to rise and to fall. Falling usually involves decadence, apathy and incomplete understanding of the structures that actually support the civilization.

There is also a a tendency for socities to 'plateau.' Or become resistant to change and innovation.

It would be fairly easy to create a chance that a society would collapse and tumble back a few centuries, or that it would spend several centuries virtually frozen, before a cultural shift allows for serious innovation.

 

[Morrus]

DMMike makes an important point. I also want to add that surviving itself is does not necessarily mean complete destruction.
Civilizations have a tendency to rise and to fall. Falling usually involves decadence, apathy and incomplete understanding of the structures that actually support the civilization.

There is also a a tendency for socities to 'plateau.' Or become resistant to change and innovation.

It would be fairly easy to create a chance that a society would collapse and tumble back a few centuries, or that it would spend several centuries virtually frozen, before a cultural shift allows for serious innovation.

It's not a civilization simulator, though. How it got to where it is doesn't need rules - invent any backstory you like! What matters is right now it's a level 9 civilization.

 

[Umbran]

How it got to where it is doesn't need rules - invent any backstory you like!

Ah, but inventing that backstory so it makes sense, and so that the backstory is reflected in the current state is the interesting (and difficult) part of the worldbuilding!