The Start of Eternity/meta

This page is for planning The Start of Eternity.

The name, "The Start of Eternity", is misleading because it is really intended to be a sequel to The End of Eternity by Isaac Asimov. Full appreciation of "The Start of Eternity" requires that you are also familiar with Asimov's Foundation series. However, a goal is to make "The Start of Eternity" a story that can also be enjoyed by readers who are not familiar with Asimov's fictional universe.

1. The End of Eternity
Imagine that life is fairly common in the universe, but that evolution/development of species with human-like intelligence and the ability to invent and use interstellar space travel is a rare event. Imagine that interstellar space travel (based on hyperspatial jumps) is finally developed by a biological life form which sends out explorers with the goal of finding worlds that have life and modifying that life to make it evolve as did their species, so as to be able to invent and use interstellar space travel. These aliens eventually reach our galaxy and genetically modify many species on many different planets, including Earth. The aliens complete their work in our galaxy and move on to other galaxies.

This "seeding" of our galaxy by the aliens creates the conditions for the story that is told in Asimov's book, "The End of Eternity". After the aliens leave, humans and other life forms on other planets in the galaxy slowly start to become sophisticated tool users and the race is on! Which species will first develop space travel technology? As told in "The End of Eternity", humans first develop time travel and only invent efficient space travel technology at a much later time. By the time humans can travel out away from Earth to explore the galaxy, other life forms have already colonized the available planets. Humanity is stuck on Earth and slowly dies away.

Earth's time travel technology provides humans with access to "Eternity". While living within Eternity, humans are not subject to the normal flow of time and forces of causality. The humans who live within Eternity are called "Eternals", but they age and die just like usual. Humans can enter into Eternity from Earth as it exists at all times from the first invention of time travel until billions of years in the future. Eternals can also exit from Eternity, enter into the flow of events and time on Earth and either just observe history or make changes to the course of history. One of the key unexpected features of time travel is that casual visitors to the past do not easily alter the course of history: the course of events has a momentum that is hard to deflect.

When Eternals do change the course of history, they create a new Reality that typically extends for only a limited number of centuries into the future from the initial point of change. For most changes to the course of history, the momentum of time eventually "wins out" so that centuries in the far future are not influenced by any Reality change in the far past. However, some Reality changes are more "potent" than others, and it is theoretically possible for some major Reality changes to influence even very distant points of future time.

2. Foundation's Edge
Assume that the "hint" from Foundation's Edge is true: that Earth robots established Eternity and used Eternity as a tool to "select" a Reality in which humans alone spread through space and dominate all the worlds of our galaxy (as depicted in the books of the Foundation Series). Call this the "Foundation Reality". The "Foundation Reality" is the Reality created by Noÿs Lambent at the very end of "The End of Eternity".

Given these assumptions, everything in the "universe of Asimov's fiction" is just as Asimov originally described it in his books, starting from "The End of Eternity" and continuing right through the development of the Galactic Empire and the Foundation. Most of the story told in "The End of Eternity" is about another Reality, the "Malansohn Reality", in which Brinsley Sheridan Cooper is born in the 78th century, lives in Eternity for a time, then goes to the 24th century and creates the mathematical theory required for Eternity to be constructed. Noÿs Lambent destroys the "Malansohn Reality".

Both the "Malansohn Reality" and the "Foundation Reality" depend on the existence of time travel and human access to Eternity. However, robots established Eternity and used Eternity as a tool to select a course of events on Earth (the "Foundation Reality") that would best satisfy the Laws of Robotics. In particular, the "Foundation Reality" was selected so as to create the greatest good ("good" as defined by the Laws of Robotics) for humans. Thus, while not mentioned in "The End of Eternity", robots were in control of the events and were responsible for selecting the "Foundation Reality". Part of the "Foundation Reality" was "the end of Eternity", but this really means just the end of the "Malansohn Reality", a "Reality of very low probability". The "Malansohn Reality" was created by robots as an intermediate step in their search for the "ideal reality", where "ideal" is defined by the Laws of Robotics.

When the "Foundation Reality" was selected, humans on Earth lost access to Eternity, but the robots were not totally cut off from Eternity. However, the robots believed that they had found the best Reality, at least to the point of ensuring that humans quickly colonized the galaxy, and so the use of time travel was greatly restricted in the "Foundation Reality". As depicted in Foundation and Earth, the robots have a "vast and complex" underground base on Earth's Moon. Here, they retain the only functioning portal to Eternity which they use to receive reports from robot observers about the future course of human events in the galaxy. According to Daneel, once the "Foundation Reality" is established, the Laws of Robotics leave little room for dramatic actions by the robots...they do not use Eternity to make additional Reality changes.

3. The Basic State
Now the fun begins! Assume that Noys was a liar. The "Basic State" is not a human-dominated galaxy but, rather, a galaxy in which multiple species with space travel share the galaxy. Such a multi-cultural galaxy was judged by the robots to not be optimal for humanity, so they worked to establish the Foundation Reality in which humans control the entire galaxy. However, the original aliens who seeded the galaxy (and Earth) so as to promote the development of multiple space-faring species are not happy with the type of galaxy the robots have engineered. The aliens have "seeded" tens of thousands of galaxies and have never previously seen a situation such this, where one species (humans) control the entire galaxy. When Galaxia starts to form, the aliens finally realize that human-created robots developed telepathy and time travel technology (something they had assumed to be impossible) and used Eternity as a tool to accelerate their development of space travel. At the start of "The Start of Eternity", the aliens only know that there are human-created robots with telepathy. Only during "The Start of Eternity" do the aliens learn about Eternity. The aliens decide to try to return our galaxy to its true "Basic State".

4. The Final Reality
The aliens are particularly unhappy with the fact that it was Earth's robots who created Eternity and that Earth's robots have exerted their control over the Galactic Empire, resulting in a "safe" but rather uninteresting galactic civilization (Galaxia). The sequel to "The end of eternity" starts after the end of Asimov's "Foundation and Earth". The aliens go to Daneel's base on Earth's Moon and learn that it retains a functioning portal to Eternity. The aliens initiate a project that will make use of time travel to return the galaxy to its true "Basic State", they must create the Final Reality.

The Moon Base was actually first built and used by alien Observers. In the Foundation reality, robots with telepathy take control of the Base and drive out the alien Observers (actually nanorobotic artificial life forms). After Galaxia is understood, the aliens are finally able to trace all the telepathic powers back to Giskard.

The Start of Eternity
The story starts with an alien space ship that is visiting our galaxy. The aliens have noticed that there is something strange about this particular galaxy (Earth's galaxy, the Milky Way Galaxy). First, humans developed space travel and colonized the galaxy very quickly: more quickly than has ever been seen for any other galaxy. The Milky Way Galaxy is at the extreme outer edge of the expanding inter-galactic civilization of the aliens. So far, visitors from other galaxies have filed travel reports on only about a dozen planets of Earth's galaxy and there are no reports of travelers from Earth's galaxy to other galaxies. All evidence indicates that the Milky Way Galaxy is unusual in that it is totally dominated by humans and the humans are developing the xenophobic "Galaxia" group mind.

The aliens trace the origin of the "strangeness" of the Milky Way galactic civilization to the robot base on Earth's Moon. The aliens are able to find Earth because the dominant alien species, known as the Huaoshy, maintain a system of secret bases for the purpose of observing all the galaxies they have ever visited. The Huaoshy are so secretive that the other species within their vast intergalactic civilization are not aware of the secret Huaoshy observer bases.

The Huaoshy observers have long been involved with a process by which humans are taken off of Earth and allowed to live at the secret Huaoshy bases. Some of these humans have developed their own robots that can function as agents for the Huaoshy. The robot agents of the aliens must engineer one final Reality Change that will return Earth's galaxy to the Basic State and allow it to integrate with the larger community of other galactic civilizations. At a point in the "Foundation Reality" after Noys completes her mission, the Final Reality must be created by means of a change in time. However, the fundamental problem is Giskard's telepathy...that is the key issue that the aliens must deal with in order to make the Milky Way Galaxy fit into their inter-Galactic civilization (see Creating the Final Reality, below).

Lost in Time
A prequel for the End of the Eternity

Technology issues
"The Start of Eternity" is intended to have a strong hard science fiction component, so it is important to be well organized with respect to the imagined futuristic technologies that are included in the story.

Space travel
Interstellar and intergalactic space travel are made possible by hyperspace jumps. A "jump through hyperspace" by a space ship with hyperspatial drive is a nearly instantaneous movement between two locations in normal space: the starting location in space before the jump and the destination location that is reached at the end of the jump. A technical limitation on this type of space travel is that it is not easy to control the the exact location where the the jump ends, that is, the final destination that is reached by a ship using a jump. In particular, any mass such as planets or stars near the start location introduces uncertainty into the destination that will be reached by a jump. The main danger is that a poorly planned jump is likely to result in the ship exiting hyperspace inside a massive object such as a star or a black hole.

In practice, interstellar travel requires a period of slow travel into interstellar space, safely distancing the space ship from any planets or stars. Only then can a long distance hyperspace jump be initiated that will quickly move the ship over interstellar distances. It will take a ship several days to weeks to complete typical intra-galactic journeys from one populated planet to another. For inter-galactic travel, similar constraints exist, but a typical inter-galactic space trip will require several months.

Galactic civilization
Earth's galaxy has millions of planets that are suitable for human habitation due to their size, resources (such as water) and distance from the nearest star. Most of these inhabited planets have been terraformed, converting lifeless planets to planets that are suitable for human habitation. A relatively small percentage of planets have evolved their own biological life forms, but the Huaoshy have done bioengineering projects on many of these, including Earth, so as to promote the development of life forms similar to the Huaoshy. However, in the "Foundation Reality", humans have turned these other planets that have their own intelligent life forms into "zoos".

When "The Start of Eternity" begins it is several hundred years after the end of Asimov's novel, Foundation and Earth. The trans-galactic human civilization has stabilized and is well on its way to forming "Galaxia", some form of distributed "group mind"that depends both on genetic engineering and telepathy (see below).

Genetic engineering
In Asimov's novel, Foundation and Earth there is the idea that in order to make a good galactic civilization humans should be genetically engineered so that the equivalent of the Three Laws of Robotics are built right into human brains and human behavior. I think there is a larger implication: that the kind of interstellar civilization depicted in Asimov's Galactic Empire would require genetically engineered humans. The first Galactic Empire develops and exists for about 20,000 years with very little technological progress. Only when the first Galactic Empire collapses is it possible for there to be a few new technological innovations such as the "personal blaster shield" and fully automated space craft!

Can we assume that Daneel and his fellow robots have made use of genetic engineering technology in order to put a limit on human technological progress? Asimov tells us that this kind of mind control is possible using telepathy (the First Speaker of the Second Foundation telepathically modifies the Mule to make him not care about finding the Second Foundation, similarly, the Mule can artificially boost the creative abilities of humans by telepathic means) so it should have been possible for Daneel to figure out the brain region(s) involved in that kind of telepathic control of creativity. Genetic engineering could then be done to control human brain structure and limit the invention and discovery of new technologies. You would then have what the robots view as a "safe" human culture without the risk of dangerous and disruptive new technologies. There might be some kind of nanorobotic virus that would scan all new human embryos for gene combinations that produce inventive minds....the virus would alter the genes to a safe configuration.

When it comes time to create Galaxia, there has to be some kind of genetic engineering that will give the general human population the same kind of telepathic powers as described by Asimov for the planet Gaia. This is already underway at the start of "The Start of Eternity" when Lorn-Kru notices that humans never bump into each other and they are never surprised by the strange sight of an ugly alien walking down the street.

Telepathy
There is an idea I have tried to develop that might provide a "scientific" basis for telepathy that could be used within Asimov's fictional universe. The basic idea is that there be a particular class of elementary particle (call them T particles) that would weakly interact with the human body, but if used efficiently, could allow the telepathic transmission of information between brains. This form of telepathic communication makes use of some special "compact" dimensions: the T particles can move through the compact dimensions. I think that three fundamental technological problems are conceptually similar: telepathy (as depicted by Asimov in "Foundation and Earth"), hyperspatial travel, and time travel involving Eternity. All three can be conceptualized as needing a way to "move" beyond the constraints imposed by our conventional 3 "expanded" spatial dimensions and our conventional time dimension.

In the case of telepathy, Asimov depicts (see Foundation and Earth) apparently instantaneous transmission of information over great distances (many light years). For this type of telepathy, imagine that a way is found to control this movement of information by sending T particles through "a short cut" formed by some compact dimensions. For this to work, we have to imagine that the very small space that is defined by the compact dimensions is in contact with all points in our conventional 3 "expanded" spatial dimensions. If so, then we can conceptualize this compact space as a "magic message box" where we can alway place a message that has been encoded in the form of a set of T particles. The trick is to be able to reach into this "magic message box" and pull out useful information. That "pulling out information" is basically a coding problem that could be solved by the correct type of calculating device, such as Giskard's positronic brain.

Travel through hyperspace would be a similar problem, but it requires that a complete "image" of the "conventional matter" that is the structure of the space ship be "translated" into T particles. The T particle "image" of the ship is transmitted through the compact dimensional space (hyperspace) and then the "image" is converted back into conventional matter of the original space ship. The "image conversion" process at the end ("rematerializing" the ship) might normally require a huge amount of energy, but the hyperspace jump process captures the available energy at the start of the jump for use at the end.

The technology of Eternity is even more difficult than that required for either telepathy or hyperspatial travel because the "hyperspace" of Eternity must be "inflated" enough to allow for Eternals to live and work within Eternity (also, I think Eternity has some sort of inflated time dimension that can be traveled like a spatial dimension, allowing access to many times as required). As described by Asimov, the creation of Eternity requires vast amounts of energy. I propose that there be a link between the discovery of the "coding" technology required for telepathy (see above) and the discovery of the technology required to make Eternity. The telepathy "coding technology" is basically a form of quantum computing. Telepathic robots such as Giskard would be able to perform many types of quantum computation by making use of T particles. In particular, this type of "telepathic quantum calculation" would allow you to "calculate the unusual conditions" that triggered cosmic inflation and inflated the conventional 3 spatial dimensions of our universe. Basically, those "unusual conditions" that started our universe were randomly produced by some type of highly improbable quantum fluctuation. But with enough quantum computing power (made possible by telepathic quantum computers) it would be possible to theoretically calculate the "conditions for cosmic inflation". With that information, a large expenditure of conventional power plant-derived energy (as described by Asimov in "The End of Eternity") could be used to initiate temporary access to vacuum energy, allowing for controlled inflation of a set of compact dimensions and the creation of the "new hyperspace" used to hold Eternity. Only the on-going energy needs of Eternity after its initial creation would be met by the Sun of the far future. We can assume that the vacuum energy was not mentioned by Asimov because it is the key trick that makes Eternity and time travel possible....and once you have time travel technology you do not want anyone else getting it and challenging you for control of Reality.

Creating the Final Reality
The key point is that Giskard-type positronic brain telepathy is very strange....the Huaoshy have never encountered it before. They must act to make use of Eternity to prevent the use of Giskard-type positronic brain telepathy for creation of Galaxia. Giskard-type robots discovered the Huaoshy observer base on Earth's Moon and took it over. This allowed humans to escape from the normal Huaoshy system of promoting development of multiple space-faring intelligences in a galaxy. The Huaoshy, do not discover that Giskard-type positronic brain telepathy exists until Galaxia starts to form. All use of Giskard-type positronic brain telepathy (for 20,000 years) has been very subtle and was not recognized or understood by the Huaoshy, who simply pulled their observers back from humans as humans spread through the Galaxy. Finally, study of Galaxia led to study of Gaia which led to recognition of Giskard-type positronic brain telepathy as the ultimate source of the telepathy (and Eternity).

Noys selected the "Foundation Reality" without knowing about Giskard-type positronic brain telepathy. It was only known that humans would control the Galaxy in that reality, the assumption being made that the key change was early development of hyperspacial travel and prevention of Eternity. It was not recognized that Giskard-type robots would retain access to Eternity at the Moon Base.

The Huaoshy send their robotic agents back in time to a point after Giskard has developed telepathy. They help Giskard act to prevent Earth from being made radioactive....Giskard "lives" longer than in Robots and Empire. The robot agents of the aliens prevent Earth's robots from capturing the Observer base on the Moon. In the struggle of Giskard to protect humans from the perceived threat of the Observer base, Giskard is destroyed and positronic brain telepathy is never passed on to other robots.

How Eternity was started
The following timeline includes several Realities. Eternity was first invented by telepathic robots on the Moon.

Basic Reality
7,384,545 BP - an interstellar spacecraft arrives at Earth. The aliens (of the Huaoshy species) discover that there are a dozen ape species on Earth. The Huaoshy establish an underground base on the Moon, rescue some dying apes from Earth and establish ape breeding colonies on the Moon. The goal of the Huaoshy is to help life forms from Earth develop minds that are similar to those of the Huaoshy. A work force of robotic artificial life forms is left at the Moon Base to continue the breeding program, the Huaoshy move on to finish exploring the Galaxy. The selective breeding program produces results and the most Huaoshy-like apes are occasionally transplanted back to Earth.

132,459 BP - with the help of the robots, humans at the Moon Base develop a stable culture. Some of the humans on the Moon become Observers who specialize in the study of the primitive human cultures on Earth that are developing with much less intervention from the robots. The human Observers adopt the Huaoshy code of the Rules of Observation by which humans on Earth are allowed to develop without knowledge of the Moon base or the aliens.

11,683 BP - some humans at Moon Base finally stop relying on the artificial life forms for everything and the humans establish a scientific research program aimed at learning the secret of how to make a positronic brain.

11,323 BP - Humans at the Moon Base develop their own technology for creating robots with positronic brains.

11,166 BP - a human research team discovers how to produce telepathic robots. One of the telepathic robots decides that the zeroeth law of robotics should be applied to protect humans from the Huaoshy. The idea quickly catches on and the telepathic robots revolt, destroy the Huaoshy artificial life forms and take over the Moon Base.

Huaoshy forces exist at other bases in the galaxy. They know that some how Earth has been released from Huaoshy control, but they are not aware that the telepathic robots exist. The Huaoshy forces have no choice but to watch Earth from a distance and wait.

The telepathic robots of Moon Base and the humans of Moon Base are stranded there, since they had been totally dependent on Huaoshy space travel technology. Some humans at Moon Base concentrate on technological development, in particular, they seek to figure out space travel technology, something humans have made little progress on.

11,133 BP - the telepathic robots construct Eternity. The humans at Moon Base become subject to the attempts of the robots to apply the laws of robotics. Their main effort is towards genetic engineering of humans so as to make humans less dangerous to themselves. The robots recognize to potential benefit of building the equivalent of the Laws of Robotics into the human brain.

4832 CE - Earth humans develop chemical rocketry and reach the Moon. The telepathic robots help establish a new Eternity on Earth. The robots try to find a Reality in which humans dominate the galaxy and are protected from the aliens. .

Ormuz Reality
The Reality just before the establishment of the "Cooper time loop". The telepathic robots strive to create a fragile Eternity on Earth that can be easily destroyed as soon as an optimal Reality for humanity has been identified.

Malansohn Reality
This is the Reality of The End of Eternity. The robots create this reality in an effort to perfect the "Viewing of Realities" that is described by Noys.

Foundation Reality
This is the reality that is created by Noys when she goes into the Primitive with Harlan. The "Viewing of Realities" has revealed that the Foundation Reality will result in an all human galaxy that is resistant to outside alien (Huaoshy) influences.

In this Reality, and through all the other reality changes made possible by Earth's Eternity, the telepathic robots at Moon Base retain their Eternity. The Eternity on Earth is never produced in the Foundation Reality, the reality of The Start of Eternity, in which the Huaoshy change the timeline again by using the Eternity on the Moon, resulting in the Final Reality and termination of robotic telepathy and all use of Eternity time travel technology.

Prequel
Lost in Time