> There are likely fewer than 10^70 atoms in our galaxy, which we would not be able to travel beyond within the 8200-year time frame.
This offers an interesting upper bound on growth, being that our energy consumption couldn’t possibly outpace our ability to travel (at the speed of light) to obtain new sources of energy. (Of course assuming no FTL tech or and no way of generating energy without interacting with matter).
For example, consider we’ve learned to harness 100% of the sun’s output, and we’re looking to double what we can harness. The next nearest star is at least 4ly away, so the doubling time is at least 4 years. To double again, we now need to find two additional stars, each with their own travel limitations. This doesn’t include overhead, like the time it takes to build a dyson sphere or collect the raw materials to do so.
This offers an interesting upper bound on growth, being that our energy consumption couldn’t possibly outpace our ability to travel (at the speed of light) to obtain new sources of energy. (Of course assuming no FTL tech or and no way of generating energy without interacting with matter).
For example, consider we’ve learned to harness 100% of the sun’s output, and we’re looking to double what we can harness. The next nearest star is at least 4ly away, so the doubling time is at least 4 years. To double again, we now need to find two additional stars, each with their own travel limitations. This doesn’t include overhead, like the time it takes to build a dyson sphere or collect the raw materials to do so.