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Mortal-Region t1_j9vjeyi wrote

  1. There has yet to be a singularity event in the Milky Way which would suggest that humans are the first technologically advanced civilization in the galaxy since it's formation, which is statistically very unlikely.

If the Great Filter is in our past, then it's not unlikely for us to be the first technological civilization. In fact, we should expect to be the first because it's unlikely for multiple species to make it through the filter simultaneously. I guess it's still weird that we made it through the filter in the first place. But it's the same kind of weirdness that arises from the fact that we happen to be intelligent humans rather than slugs. It's only weird if you're intelligent enough to think about such things.

What is weird, I think, is that we happen to exist right at the moment of the singularity. A galactic civilization would have a lifespan of billions or even trillions of years, yet here we are, witnessing the birth of AI, space-travel, etc -- the very tech that makes galactic civilization possible. The first electronic computer was invented less than 80 years ago!

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Vaellyth t1_j9wqshc wrote

It boggles my mind. I've been trying to write a sci-fi novel for more than a decade with plausible / believable tech but it's so hard to imagine what things will be like in another 50 years, let alone 500, beyond smartphones evolving into implants or an intrinsic AR.

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