Re: Fermi's Paradox and FTL drives

Gene Ward Smith wrote:
> dbd@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
 (David DeLaney) wrote in
> news:slrnfqcmts.aa5.dbd@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
 
> 
>> ... you ARE in an SF group, Gene; would you rather we gave 
> examples of
>> FTL drives from fantasy?
>>
> 
> I've had people vigorously defend the liklihood of FTL on this 
> group; anyone who thinks it likely should be able to explain 
> what he thinks about the speed limit question and Fermi's 
> paradox.

"Real" arbitrary FTL allows time travel, which has even bigger Fermi 
paradox implications than the usual SF FTL. It raises the question of 
why we aren't being overrun with ****ps from our own future, for example.

You could avoid the time travel with wormholes that naturally 
self-destruct due to feedback when a closed timelike loop forms. But 
then we're using a form of FTL that requires the transmitters and 
receivers to be moved into position at sublight velocities, and that 
exists just fine within the current formulations of the Fermi paradox so 
no modifications are needed.