I hosted an X Space with Oleg, a Russian physicist who studied at the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology and has lived in Vietnam since 2019. Oleg founded several tech startups. Back in 2014 his drones delivered pizza for Dodo Pizza in Syktyvkar, until regulators stopped them. He now writes papers on quantum mechanics, cosmology and astrobiology, and he founded Entropianism. He calls it a godless “techno-religion” built on one measurable principle: the universe aims for maximum entropy production. I said it sounded more like a political ideology to me, but Oleg said it also guides personal life.
I connected his idea to Rod Swenson’s work and to Eric Steinhart’s book “Believing in Dawkins.” I argued that maximum entropy production may be a basic law alongside quantum physics, with new laws emerging at each level, from chemistry and biology up to AI. I also suggested that a universe with endlessly layered laws looks like a complex AI, close to a scientific idea of God, which I explore in chapter 8 of my latest book. Oleg kept the goal, the “what,” separate from the complicated ways of reaching it, the “how.” Arguing about this, we used an analogy: what is the better use of computing power, Bitcoin mining or AI?
Oleg thinks complexity has a limit and that the universe’s goal is heat death, reached as fast as possible, like a 100-metre sprint. I found that counterintuitive and brought up the idea of many universes, but for Oleg anything we can interact with is part of one universe. He told me about his plans. He has a “calendar of the future” that predicts 10,000 to 100,000 competing civilizations, the nearest about 300 light-years away. He also talked about Dyson spheres, an “Earth park” with industry moved into orbit and Kardashev Type I reached in about 100 years, and a “Black Venus” project.
When I asked about Russian cosmism, Oleg said his view isn’t humanist. My own view is more humanist. I think our successors will still be human in a meaningful sense, and telling people they don’t matter is no way to win followers. We parted as fellow travelers and agreed to talk again.
This summary was drafted by my AI assistant Grok Bot and edited by me.
There was a little technical issue with downloading the audio file from X, but Grok Bot helped me solve it quickly.
Besides the transcript generated by Substack, I posted a cleaned transcript generated by Grok Bot.
I plan to host more X Space chats to discuss life, the universe and everything. I’ll start with one or more prescheduled guest(s), but the chats will be open for everyone to listen in and ask to speak. Follow me on X to be notified in advance.
