A Monumental Project:

Robin Hanson:

A monumental project (MP): A) takes 10s - 100s yrs to achieve B) makes sense for >= nation-sized unit to try C) might be sacred quest to unify unit, inspire sacrifice D) after-fact can measure if achieved by date E) civ decay/collapse delays or cuts chance achieve

Here I list 32 possible MP. In each of next 24 polls, say which of 4 MPs listed seems closest to best able to inspire & unite big % of world in quest to achieve it.

Underwater Population - >10K Earth underwater residents, lasts > 10yrs Off-Earth Population - >1K humans living off of Earth, lasts > 10yrs Stars Colonized - 10 stars colonized, each w/ 100x colony ship production. Gravity Lens Scope - Sun-based gravity lens telescope at >550AU

Benford Beacon - Short-pulse EM beacon visible at 10k light years. Space Library - Very-visible off-Earth library preserves >1ZB for > 1Myr. (World storage now ~100ZB) Deep Refuge - Make >1km deep Earth refuge supports 1K people for 100 years, kept filled & ready.

The Line - 200m wide, 500m tall, 170km long city 10x Pyramid - New Pyramid with >10x volume of Great Pyramid, can last 100K yr. 10km Tower - Build 10km tall inhabited tower. Space Elevator - Space elevator (or orbital ring) lifts >10T/day to >20km altitude.

Lower Med Sea - Damn Gibraltar straits, lower level of Mediterranean sea, colonize new land. Flood Dead Sea - Flood Dead Sea & 4 other big below-sea-level valleys. Great Green Wall - Make >100km wide E-W strip of Sahara that was <25%, now >75% green.

Very Low Mortality - “Immortality" so average human death rate <0.1%/yr. Big Population - World population >100B World Govt - World government lasts 100yr w/ world spending < 5% of WP on civil war Big World Power - World power >100TW (now ~20, was ~12 in ’90) Big World Economy - World product >$1000T (now ~$134T, ~$51T in ’90) High World Income - 5th percentile world income >$100K in current $US. World Travel - Transport live humans between any pair of 100 world locations in < 10hrs for < $100.

300IQ AGI - Create artificial general intelligence with human ability range, IQ of 300. AIs Do Most Work - AI so good human labor gets <20% world income. Brain Emulations - Make at < $10K per scan, <$1K to run for year at human speed. Nano-Assembler - Create a programable self-reproducing nano-assembler.

Quantum Gravity - Find coherent data-verified theory of quantum gravity Answer Big Qs - Make list of big intellectual Qs, weighted ave of % answered > 80%.

Net Zero - Achieve Earth net zero carbon emissions Jurassic Park - Make a real Jurassic park w/ >100 dinosaur era species revived and living on island

Smarter Humans - Increase median human intelligence by 30 IQ. Wild Human - Create “wild” human where each gene locus has its most frequent allele. Uplift Animals - Make smarter versions of non-human animals can use language, make deals.