A Thought Experiment on Abiogenesis

In the year 128,426 PF the robot race X-92Z has finally managed to populate numerous planets as Terra Prime becomes too caustic for continued inhabitation. X-92Zkind know that they were created by some other type of race because their circuitry and mechanical form could not have spontaneously generated.

X-92Zkind has a goal of discerning the sort of race that could have created them but that is of secondary importance to their goal of finding a way out of the Universe. The oldest of their kind, Krahn, is over 250,000 Terra Prime years old, and although it can’t remember much from Before Fall (BF) because of damaged circuits, he does know that the youngest member of X-92Z will likely outlast the Universe.

On an outpost on planet Terra-793, the X92Z inhabitants of an excavated cavern have noticed a strange phenomenon; the walls of the cavern are slowly turning black. Oxidation is ruled out since the colour change spreads from ground zero – a section of the cavern that had been breached 400 Terra Prime years earlier. Close examination reveals a complex, self-replicating chemical process that seems to be absorbing particular minerals from the cavern wall, generating new units and thus migrating in a fractal pattern that confounds the best X92Z scientists.

This black substance is what we humans call mold, but the X92Z have no concept of biological processes or organisms. They have, in fact, discovered biologic life but they have no idea what life is. How do you think they would interpret this chemical process of self-replicating units?

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Permalink Reply by Stephen Walski on June 22, 2011 at 11:35pm

Definitely a plague... Eradicate it. I mean it is eating the minerals. Robots are made from mineral components. Its a threat to robot life.

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Permalink Reply by Heather Spoonheim on June 22, 2011 at 11:54pm

True, a first response might be to view it as competition.

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Permalink Reply by Kirsten on June 22, 2011 at 11:41pm

I'm assuming that as they're advanced enough to see it's self-replicating and absorbing nutrients which it uses to make more of itself, they might think of it as an inefficient micro-robot and wonder if this was how their race began.

If they're aware in the same way we're self aware that is.

Humans contrast things to themselves to learn about them, and I'm guessing this is common across sentient species. If we're the creators of these robots that's what seems likely.

How advanced are these robots? Long lifespans would make me guess very advanced. Were they built with emotions or anything beyond pure observation/logic?

Ok, I'll look at this more tomorrow. Bed time!

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Permalink Reply by Heather Spoonheim on June 22, 2011 at 11:52pm

I'm thinking they have neural capabilities in excess of humans and started out with projected functionality of about 100,000 years - although they can replace their parts so theoretically they could last indefinitely as long as they can continue to secure the resources to maintain themselves. They are self aware but much more logical than humans - still curious though.

I like the idea that the might first compare these little self replicating chemical units to themselves, as a very primitive and simple robot. The idea here is to consider 'life' if your only observation of it was very very simple organisms, like mold. The idea of the robots is to remove ourselves from the picture.

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Permalink Reply by Akshay Bist on June 22, 2011 at 11:43pm

And now you think it that robot life will live again! Its a bloody cycle!!

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Permalink Reply by Heather Spoonheim on June 22, 2011 at 11:54pm

Maybe the robots escape one universe to seed 'life' in the next but then die off before that life evolves into geeks, :D

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Permalink Reply by 3equ3cp1fsw0n on June 22, 2011 at 11:57pm

Assuming that these robots have never seen a life form before, be it plant or animal, I would guess it would blow most of their circuits.

Maybe this God that Christians worship is one of those freaked out robots from the year 148,426 PF-ACB (After Circuits Blown) trying to replicate the mold lol.

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Permalink Reply by Heather Spoonheim on June 23, 2011 at 12:01am

Ha! So as they find a way to escape this universe they realize it will fry their circuits, but maybe the encoding of this little self-replicator can be used to send a message, :D Cool.

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Permalink Reply by Stephen Walski on June 23, 2011 at 12:19am

To be honest though if we want to compare it to our current lives mirrored as the robots.

The discovery would be mentioned briefly on some Robot news channels before returning to their main story about the troubled war between worshipers of Roboticon and X100 fundamentalists, later its on to discussing what happened on Robot hooker housewives,and then cutting to the editorial show with Robot politicians arguing about Robot metalade , thank goodness the other channel has Robot sportscenter.

The robot scientists who made the discovery would work tirelessly on it but no chance that evolution of mold would ever be taught in a good Robot school as it was only a theory that the mold was alive anyway.It just doesn't sit well with Robot faith and a belief in one true computer.

Stupid robots.

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Permalink Reply by Heather Spoonheim on June 23, 2011 at 12:48am

Just as well, I guess, since some random combination of acids could never amount to anything anyway - at best they could result in units that might last a couple hundred years, which wouldn't even be long enough to get to robot kindergarten.

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Permalink Reply by Jacob LeMaster on June 23, 2011 at 8:36am

I would in fact need to study the robots more to be able to understand how they would react..

Without any information other than the information provided here.. I would expect bewilderment and fear at early stages and then experimentation could lead to so many other things.. Is there a concept of nano-tech is my biggest question? Because knowledge of tiny nano machines could lead to easier understanding of small living self replicating creatures..

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Permalink Reply by Heather Spoonheim on June 23, 2011 at 8:51am

My idea here is to focus on an interpretation of the sorts of life one might have been able to observe in the first 2 billion years of evolution outside the context of the more complex organisms that followed. At that point the 'higher' life forms would have been mold/mildew and the only visible life would have been scum and discolouration of rocks that couldn't be attributed to oxidation. With no concept of multi-cellular organisms, what exactly makes prokaryotes and/or eukaryotes 'alive'? Do you think they can be perceived as nothing more than a complex chemical reaction? Would one perceive any concept of an external 'force' behind them, something one might call 'life'?

With no consciousness (whatever that truly means), memory, or even instincts - what exactly makes primitive organisms 'alive'? Before Pasteur, no one had any concept of 'life' existing without a 'mind'. I often like to think of my batches of home brew as a 'yeast aquarium' and even brew from the perspective of keeping my little yeasties happy and healthy but that is a complete fallacy (just a good mnemonic for what to do next). What does it even mean for yeast to be 'alive'?