Claim · 1989-09 · publication · Stated in source · Supported

Moravec's essay of 1989 ends with a supercivilization spreading outward from the sun, "converting nonlife into mind", which might convert the entire universe into an extended thinking entity.

One recorded claim. The claim panel gives its qualification, the source passages with their place in each source, and how it was checked.

What it connects

After Life → articulates → Machine intelligence spreads beyond Earth

Where it appears

Machine succession, scale and acceleration: propositions in located texts, 1979–2026 →

Claim and evidence

After Lifearticulates ↓Machine intelligence spreads beyond Earth

Machine-checkedStated in sourceSupported

Supporting evidence: primary · 1 source

Date: 1989-09 · publication Records dated 1989 →
Wording attested: 1999-11-10. The cross-family check found the archive capture of 10 November 1999 byte-identical to the copy read.
Role: Articulation
Register (kind of text): Nonfiction

Scope and limitsLabelled by the author as speculation.

The evidence 02

primary sourceSupports the claim

After Life

Hans Moravec (author-hosted HTML, Carnegie Mellon University project archive) · 1989-09

Cite the original source

Cite the original document, not Selekoa. Check these details against it.

Source excerpt

“Our speculation ends in a supercivilization, the synthesis of all solar-system life, constantly improving and extending itself, spreading outward from the sun, converting nonlife into mind.”

Location in source Final paragraph

How it was read Retrieved directly from the publisher

Machine-checked · 2026-11-01

Source details and check notes

Authors: Hans Moravec
Version: Retrieved for the candidate pack on 2026-10-31 (SHA-256 d9cdeba72b5376e21c1ace052ac4bcf5e1a4773134a8bbc84dbbbaa2de035679). Author-hosted HTML printing "© 1989 by Hans Moravec" and "This article is adapted from the author's book Mind Children: the future of robot and human intelligence, Harvard University Press, October 1988". Earliest capture located: 1999-11-10 (not compared).
Canonical address: Open the canonical source ↗
Accessed: 2026-10-31
Language: English (en)
Attribution: Hans Moravec, “After Life”, 1989-09.
Reuse: No open redistribution licence asserted. Bibliographic metadata, editorial paraphrases and short attributed quotations (at most 50 words each). Recheck terms before wider redistribution.
Check notes: Candidate pack passage, machine succession, scale and acceleration (research/heterodox-thought). The quotation (26 words) matched the text retrieved for the candidate pack on 2026-10-31. Matching ignored differences of whitespace, case, quotation marks, dashes and Unicode compatibility forms, so the source’s typography can differ. A cross-family machine check (2026-11-01, item 70) re-read the record’s source and agreed with its stance; its corrections were applied at admission. No human editorial review.

primary sourceSupports the claim

After Life

Hans Moravec (author-hosted HTML, Carnegie Mellon University project archive) · 1989-09

Cite the original source

Cite the original document, not Selekoa. Check these details against it.

Source excerpt

“This process, possibly occurring now elsewhere, might convert the entire universe into an extended thinking entity, a prelude to even greater things.”

Location in source Final paragraph

How it was read Retrieved directly from the publisher

Machine-checked · 2026-11-01

Source details and check notes

Authors: Hans Moravec
Version: Retrieved for the candidate pack on 2026-10-31 (SHA-256 d9cdeba72b5376e21c1ace052ac4bcf5e1a4773134a8bbc84dbbbaa2de035679). Author-hosted HTML printing "© 1989 by Hans Moravec" and "This article is adapted from the author's book Mind Children: the future of robot and human intelligence, Harvard University Press, October 1988". Earliest capture located: 1999-11-10 (not compared).
Canonical address: Open the canonical source ↗
Accessed: 2026-10-31
Language: English (en)
Attribution: Hans Moravec, “After Life”, 1989-09.
Reuse: No open redistribution licence asserted. Bibliographic metadata, editorial paraphrases and short attributed quotations (at most 50 words each). Recheck terms before wider redistribution.
Check notes: Candidate pack passage, machine succession, scale and acceleration (research/heterodox-thought). The quotation (22 words) matched the text retrieved for the candidate pack on 2026-10-31. Matching ignored differences of whitespace, case, quotation marks, dashes and Unicode compatibility forms, so the source’s typography can differ. A cross-family machine check (2026-11-01, item 70) re-read the record’s source and agreed with its stance; its corrections were applied at admission. No human editorial review.

Status and meaning

Editorial status. Machine-checked. Machines found this record and checked it against its sources; no person accepted it individually. Each evidence record above shows how it was checked.

Relation. A passage of the document meets the proposition’s criterion. The record documents what the text states, in its register (fiction and satire are labelled); it is not evidence that the proposition is true and implies no influence on or from another text.

Date. Informal report of September 1989, per the author's publication list.

Record ID ht-w10-moravec-1989-after-life