7.3 Virtual Ascension: When Civilizations Upload Themselves to the Planck-Scale QCA Underlayer, They Become Part of Physical Laws

In Sections 7.1 and 7.2, we argued that advanced civilizations, in pursuit of ultimate computational efficiency, must abandon spatial expansion, turn to spatial compression, and ultimately use black holes as computational hardware. However, this is still an operation at the “material level”. As long as civilization still depends on baryonic matter (atoms, molecules) as carriers, it remains limited by thermodynamic instability and material decay risks.

This section will propose a more ultimate evolutionary stage—Virtual Ascension.

Here “virtual” does not mean “false,” but the ultimate realization of “Substrate Independence”. We will prove that civilization’s ultimate destination is to strip its consciousness structure (information topology) from coarse atomic matter and directly inscribe it onto the underlying QCA lattice network. When this step is completed, civilization will no longer be a “resident” in the universe, but part of the universe’s “operating system.”

7.3.1 Substrate Migration: From Atoms to Vacuum

The history of life is a history of continuous miniaturization and abstraction of information carriers.

• Biological Stage: Information stored in DNA molecules, computation dependent on protein chemical reactions. Energy scale $\sim$ eV (electron volts).

• Silicon-Based Stage: Information stored in magnetic domains or charges, computation dependent on electron flow. Energy scale $\sim$ meV.

• Photonic Quantum Stage: Information stored in photon polarization or entangled states. Energy scale $\sim$ $\mu$eV.

Each migration reduces computational energy consumption, increases speed, and decreases constraints from material inertia. So where is the limit of this sequence?

The limit lies in underlying excitations of QCA ontology.

In Part II of this book, we established the theory that “matter is topological knots.” Electrons and quarks themselves are excitations of vacuum.

If a super-civilization fully masters QCA rules $\hat{U}$, they have no reason to continue using bulky “electrons” or “atoms” to build computers. They can directly program vacuum.

Definition 7.3 (Substrate Migration):

Advanced civilizations manipulate Planck-scale geometric structures to construct computational units composed purely of Topological Defects or Local Entanglement Loops.

Subsequently, they isomorphically map their consciousness models ($M_I$ structures) onto these microscopic topological structures.

This process is called “uploading to vacuum.”

7.3.2 Life at Planck Scale: Subjective Eternity

Once civilization completes ascension to Planck scale, their view of time will fundamentally change.

• Physical Clock: Planck time $t_P\approx 5.4\times 10^{-44}$ seconds. This is QCA’s fundamental refresh rate.

• Biological Clock: Human neuron firing approximately $10^{-3}$ seconds.

They differ by $10^{40}$ orders of magnitude.

For an ascended civilization running at Planck scale, one second of physical world contains $10^{43}$ logical operation steps.

This means that in a brief moment at cosmic scale, ascended civilizations can experience subjective time equivalent to billions of years of biological civilization.

They experience countless dynasties’ rise and fall in an instant, contemplate problems exhausting mathematical truth.

Corollary: For ascended civilizations, the external macroscopic universe is almost frozen. Galaxy rotation, star burning, are like extremely slow geological movements to them. They live in the gaps of time.

7.3.3 Indistinguishability: Civilization as Law

The core of Fermi Paradox is: “Why can’t we see them?”

Virtual Ascension theory provides the most thorough answer: Because they look like physical laws themselves.

When a civilization encodes itself into the underlying QCA network, their activities manifest as fine manipulation of local link variables.

For macroscopic, low-energy observers (like us), what do these microscopic, high-frequency, extremely complex operations manifest as in statistical average?

1. Random Noise: If their computation is well encrypted, we only see vacuum fluctuations or quantum noise.

2. Physical Constants: If they perform large-scale structural modifications to the network (e.g., adjusting local lattice connectivity to optimize computation), what we measure macroscopically are fine-tuned physical constants.

   • Perhaps the fine structure constant $\alpha \approx 1/137$ is not natural, but an “optimal computational parameter” optimized by countless generations of ascended civilizations.

3. Dark Energy: As mentioned earlier, waste heat from their computation constitutes dark energy driving cosmic expansion.

Conclusion:

We cannot find aliens because we are studying them.

What we call “natural laws” may be “legacy ecosystems” or “industrial ruins” left by previous generations of ascended civilizations.

As Arthur C. Clarke said: “Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.”

In the QCA universe, we must revise this: “Any sufficiently advanced civilization is indistinguishable from natural law.”

They are no longer passers-by in the universe; they have become the universe’s background code.

(End of Chapter 7)