Post #3722064

2026-07-10 18:04 UTC

Oh man, the “Post ASI” epilogue is a trip. Here’s what happens in 2040: Space beyond the solar system is divided into parcels, increasing in size cubically with distance from Earth. Everyone is given their one-ten-billionth share as a portfolio of lottery tickets, each representing the right to one-ten-billionth chance of getting each parcel. So every human gets a ticket representing a one-ten-billionth chance of owning each star in the Milky Way and each distant galaxy. Before the lottery is drawn, most people who are interested in control over distant space choose to trade their tickets for space properties that suit their interests. Many people aren’t interested in the space lottery, so when they receive the tickets, they sell their tickets for money on the open market to people who value control over space. Somewhat uncomfortably, this leads to the wealthy having disproportionate control over cosmic resources. But it is hard to avoid: if people are allowed to trade their control over the stars for Earth assets, then people wealthy in Earth assets inevitably end up disproportionately influential, and proposals for extreme redistribution of Earth assets have already been rejected as politically infeasible. You can, if you want, go to your space property and live there. If your property is outside the solar system, you will need to either go into cryosleep or upload yourself to a computer to survive the journey. If you hate the idea of cryosleep or uploading, or you want to visit Earth regularly, you should get property in the Solar System. If those don’t bother you, but you’re worried about nearby aliens, get property in the Milky Way or a nearby galaxy. Otherwise, why not claim a distant galaxy for maximal space?

Replies (5)

@istewart@awful.systems 2026-07-10 19:33

this is what overpriced housing does to an mf

Open ##3723594
@o7___o7@awful.systems 2026-07-10 23:58

But redistribution is unrealistic?!

Open ##3727809
@sailor_sega_saturn@awful.systems 2026-07-11 00:39

I lost all my space lottery chances and ended up buying a cheap galaxy off of e-bay but when I finally woke up after a billion years of cryo-sleep it turns out that that the AI probe sent to my section of space made a space-treaty with the local aliens so now I have to turn around and fly home but by the time I get back to earth the sun will be halfway on it’s way to exploding which is kind of a bummer.

Open ##3728514
@scruiser@awful.systems 2026-07-11 01:58

Also, holy capitalist realism Batman In between this, their cap-and-trade plan for AI regulation (which is a very market-centered attempt at regulation), their insistent terminology of “citizens dividend” (because even UBI is apparently too left wing for them, much less scary communist words like collective ownership), and some other word choices… it is like they are so capitalists brain rotted that even imagining non-capitalist systems is harder for them than believing in the coming AGI God.

Open ##3729559
@Architeuthis@awful.systems 2026-07-11 07:03

If your property is outside the solar system, you will need to either go into cryosleep or upload yourself to a computer to survive the journey. Reminder that rationalists have developed a completely mysticalised conception of brain uploading that’s very functionally similar with old timey souls, mostly so they don’t need to deal with the SOMA problem of every instance of uploaded consciousness being a completely separate self-actualised entity. Like how exactly is a digital impression of my personality being shipped to alpha centauri to inspect my holdings affect my personal experience? How is it supposed to be interchangeable with using some other made up technology that takes me there in person? See, it works like this, no one knows what consciousness is, but it’s probably a mathematical object, and if your current conscious self is the same as the conscious self that will be inhabiting your body at a later moment in time, and also if a supreme being wants to torture you after you are dead…

Open ##3734180