I can't think of anything more scary than something that is smarter and faster and bolder than a human being. Can you?

Seems like a nice launching off point for an intellectual ramble into the ultimate evolutionary possibilities of life.

If anything survives the eventual collapse of a universe then it will be because it has developed the technological capability to open a doorway to other universes. There is always an exit. We primitive humans have already theorised on excursions through time and the multiverse. We know its theoretically doable.

Working out your destination might be impossible but when a universe is on the brink of destruction there will no doubt be those who want to risk going anyway.

In previous mass exoduses from older now long lost universes, the majority of those travellers escaping from the doomed universe may have gotten lost in even worse universes. Quite possibly getting devoured by worse Aliens than themselves or facing greater numbers and losing. But sometimes a few lucky individuals undoubtedly survive the trip and encounter a suitable place to live.

http://img142.imageshack.us/img142/8008/cthulhu7bl.jpg
Cthulhu

When you are alone in a universe without any serious competition you probably get bored easily. Having been spawned from a race that has survived the full length of time available to it in an earlier time/space the primitives in some juvenile universe would probably be of little threat to you. You might even try to speed things up a little. Accelerate the evolution of an interesting race just for kicks. Some worlds being more comfortable than others you may even start calling one home. Mark it as your territory and begin shaping the environment to more fully suit your needs.

Ofcourse, if a few members of your species have made successful trips to new universes then you could get other visitors from entirely different universes also trying to survive the same way. Then you either have to beat them off with a big stick or form some sort of truce. But I imagine that's a rare event. Rare but a distinct threat for genetically superior lifeforms who practically live forever if they are careful. Perhaps you could live right through a universe and never get any neighbours coming around but a true survivor would think ahead and prepare for it.

http://img80.imageshack.us/img80/7266/dagonrecon2mx.jpg
Dagon

I could imagine such entities taking the knowledge of their kind with them through successive universes until they eventually meet something nastier than themselves or some natural catastrophe like a universe where the laws of physics don't meet their survival needs.

Images are renderings of interdimensional monsters from H.P. Lovecraft's Cthulhu Mythos

I can't think of anything more scary than something that is smarter and faster and bolder than a human being. Can you?
Certain viruses.

Not for long. Another 10 years and genetic science will have those little buggers under control. While its true that simple is good in terms of longterm survival, so is brains. We can out think ebola and aids. Isolate it from populations and work out how to kill it. To a super advanced alien life form we might be little more than a harmless virus ourselves.

Well then, keeping a low profile and staying harmless would be a good strategy for an emerging intelligence.

Seems like a nice launching off point for an intellectual ramble into the ultimate evolutionary possibilities of life.
Ok then. My vote for the ultimate in the evolution of life is this:

Since we know that intelligence (at least our kind) is the outcome of the immensly complex interaction of structured network elements with weighted transfer functions (neurons), then I propose that the required elements could be virtual interconnections via micro or macroscopic wormholes throughout the universe. This would imply that the universe itself could become the ultimate intelligence. Hmmm...

Pfff, Cthulhu and Dagon. They ain't got nothing on the Crawling Chaos.

http://www.abismoderol.com/nyarlathotep.jpg

You speak of Azathoth?

http://img80.imageshack.us/img80/2594/azathoth7zv.jpg

You a Goth dude?

Lovecraft referred to Azathoth as a "nuclear chaos". One of the Outer Gods and considered the center of all the universe. That's my kind of Deity.

:cool:

Azathoth was king of all the Lovecraft pantheon.

I only wish Lovecraft had written more books. I think he wasted too many of his earlier short stories on dreamscapes. Astral travel and such. He should have written more about Ghouls and ancient dark Gods. 'The Mountains of Madness' and 'Call of Cthulhu' are my favourites. He had quite a vivid imagination.

keeping a low profile and staying harmless would be a good strategy for an emerging intelligence

A good strategy for extinction.

Since we know that intelligence (at least our kind) is the outcome of the immensly complex interaction of structured network elements with weighted transfer functions (neurons),

A result of evolutionary competitive driving forces.

then I propose that the required elements could be virtual interconnections via micro or macroscopic wormholes throughout the universe. This would imply that the universe itself could become the ultimate intelligence.

That depends on whether such giant wormholes lead to exits within the same universe. Einstein suggested that they led to parrallel universes as the consequences of travelling instantaneously across the universe creates time travel paradoxes. Travelling through wormholes sends you back in time. It also tends to be a one way affair. You can't return through a black hole.

Besides, if the universe were a single entity then what would be its purpose and evolutionary drive to exist? I suspect it would devolve and crumble away from cumulating internal errors.

A living spaceship of some kind that can live on photosynthesis and planetary matter could be interesting though.

http://img154.imageshack.us/img154/7218/galactus064nv.jpg
GALACTUS! Devourer of Worlds!