--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Diaspora starts about a thousand years…" description: "\"Diaspora starts about a thousand years from now. Most of human civilisation has moved inside computers; essentially, a major branch of our descendants ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/108/greg-egan-8766_branches_diaspora-starts-about-a-thousand-years-f_2484636.jpg" --- # Diaspora starts about a thousand years from now. Most of… ![“Diaspora starts about a thousand years from now. Most of human civilisation has moved inside computers; essentially, a major branch of our descendants consists of conscious software.” quote by Greg Egan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/108/greg-egan-8766_branches_diaspora-starts-about-a-thousand-years-f_2484636.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/108/greg-egan-8766_branches_diaspora-starts-about-a-thousand-years-f_2484636.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/108/greg-egan-8766_branches_diaspora-starts-about-a-thousand-years-f_2484636.jpg) > “Diaspora starts about a thousand years from now. Most of human civilisation has moved inside computers; essentially, a major branch of our descendants consists of conscious software.” [Greg Egan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/greg-egan/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Future humanity will largely exist as software, making consciousness a digital phenomenon. **In simple terms:** Humanity may become software. Key Takeaway Consider the implications of digital consciousness. Themes future technology identity transcendence Mood thought‑provoking speculative Type philosophical futurist When to use this quote - AI development - philosophical debates - ethical AI - long‑term futures Key Concepts digital consciousness posthumanism simulation theory Questions to Reflect On - How would rights change for digital beings? - What defines consciousness in software? A Different Perspective May overlook biological continuity and ethical concerns. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Civilisation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/civilisation/) [Computer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/computer/) [Computers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/computers/) [Diaspora](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/diaspora/) [Humans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/humans/) [Programming](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/programming/) [Software](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/software/) [Thousand years](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thousand-years/) ## Related quotes > [With every throb of the climatic pulse which we have felt in Central Asia,, the centre of civilisation has moved this way and that.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellsworth-huntington/with-every-throb-of-the-climatic-pulse-which-we-have-felt-in-central/) [Ellsworth Huntington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellsworth-huntington/) > [We are embarking on the biggest project in human civilisation," he said. "We must ensure that the United States ... is part of such…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susilo-bambang-yudhoyono/we-are-embarking-on-the-biggest-project-in-human-civilisation-he-said/) [Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susilo-bambang-yudhoyono/) > [What do we value more: an economic system which privileges profit above all other considerations, or the continued existence of human civilisation as we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/owen-jones/what-do-we-value-more-an-economic-system-which-privileges-profit/) [Owen Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/owen-jones/) > [What is the difference between a 2°C world and a 4°C world? Human civilisation!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hans-joachim-schellnhuber/what-is-the-difference-between-a-2-c-world-and-a-4-c-world-human/) [Hans Joachim Schellnhuber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hans-joachim-schellnhuber/) > [The first and most important impact of climate change on human civilisation will be an acute and permanent crisis of food supply. Eating regularly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gwynne-dyer/the-first-and-most-important-impact-of-climate-change-on-human/) [Gwynne Dyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gwynne-dyer/) > [The penetration of society by the Internet and the penetration of the Internet by society is the best thing that has ever happened to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julian-assange/the-penetration-of-society-by-the-internet-and-the-penetration-of-the/) [Julian Assange](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julian-assange/) > [The world is not going into concentric blocs of power. It is actually going into a diffusion of power with more centres of decision-making…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-hague/the-world-is-not-going-into-concentric-blocs-of-power-it-is-actually/) [William Hague](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-hague/) > [It's humbling to realise that the developmental gulf between a miniscule ant colony and our modern human civilisation is only a tiny fraction of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michio-kaku/it-s-humbling-to-realise-that-the-developmental-gulf-between-a/) [Michio Kaku](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michio-kaku/) > [Lawrence Hill, a cultural and spiritual descendant of West African griots, has used his vast storytelling talents to create an epic story that spans…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/afua-cooper/lawrence-hill-a-cultural-and-spiritual-descendant-of-west-african/) Afua Cooper > [I always thought of Djibouti as a place where human history hasn't really begun yet - or perhaps it's already over. There's something in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/claire-denis/i-always-thought-of-djibouti-as-a-place-where-human-history-hasn-t/) [Claire Denis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/claire-denis/) > [There are people who just love to destroy other people. It saddens me to admit that, I think, at whatever state of human civilisation…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tobias-forge/there-are-people-who-just-love-to-destroy-other-people-it-saddens-me/) [Tobias Forge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tobias-forge/) > [“And the further they go, the more they'll remember, they can take it from me.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rohinton-mistry/and-the-further-they-go-the-more-they-ll-remember-they-can-take-it/) [Rohinton Mistry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rohinton-mistry/) > [There's nothing more true in being a child of a diaspora, a child of immigrants. We're completely new to our parents. We're not something…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/junot-diaz/there-s-nothing-more-true-in-being-a-child-of-a-diaspora-a-child-of/) [Junot Diaz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/junot-diaz/) > [The museum in D.C. is really a narrative museum - the nature of a people and how you represent that story. Whereas the Studio…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-adjaye/the-museum-in-d-c-is-really-a-narrative-museum-the-nature-of-a-people/) [David Adjaye](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-adjaye/) > [I am proud of being a Greek of the diaspora.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-papandreou/i-am-proud-of-being-a-greek-of-the-diaspora/) [George Papandreou](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-papandreou/) ## More by Greg Egan > [“Paul closed his eyes and turned his face to the sun. In spite of everything, it was hard not to take solace from the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/greg-egan/paul-closed-his-eyes-and-turned-his-face-to-the-sun-in-spite-of/) [Greg Egan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/greg-egan/) > [“I was recruited by the dead,’ Zak said. ‘Not in any rush to join them in their silence, but from the urgent need to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/greg-egan/i-was-recruited-by-the-dead-zak-said-not-in-any-rush-to-join-them-in/) [Greg Egan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/greg-egan/) > [“You have to be doubly foolish to be a Satanist,” Stoney muttered. “Doubly?” “Not only do you need to believe all the nonsense of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/greg-egan/you-have-to-be-doubly-foolish-to-be-a-satanist-stoney-muttered-doubly/) [Greg Egan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/greg-egan/) > [“Fleshers used to spin fantasies about aliens arriving to ‘conquer’ Earth, to steal their ‘precious’ physical resources, to wipe them out for fear of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/greg-egan/fleshers-used-to-spin-fantasies-about-aliens-arriving-to-conquer/) [Greg Egan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/greg-egan/) > [Australian SF book publishing has undergone a boom recently, and sometimes it's easier for new writers to sell a book to a local publisher…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/greg-egan/australian-sf-book-publishing-has-undergone-a-boom-recently-and/) [Greg Egan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/greg-egan/) > [“If the technology improves sufficiently, the environmental impact of the wealthiest Copy could end up being less than that of the most ascetic living…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/greg-egan/if-the-technology-improves-sufficiently-the-environmental-impact-of/) [Greg Egan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/greg-egan/) > [I'm rarely grabbed by anything the way I was when I was 10 years younger. About the only relatively new artists whose albums I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/greg-egan/i-m-rarely-grabbed-by-anything-the-way-i-was-when-i-was-10-years/) [Greg Egan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/greg-egan/) > [If we spend all our time gazing at the wonders ahead without remembering where we're standing right now, we're going to trip and fall…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/greg-egan/if-we-spend-all-our-time-gazing-at-the-wonders-ahead-without/) [Greg Egan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/greg-egan/) > [“The Transmuters had built a structure that dwarfed universes, but touched each one only lightly. They hadn’t turned whole worlds to rubble, they hadn’t…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/greg-egan/the-transmuters-had-built-a-structure-that-dwarfed-universes-but/) [Greg Egan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/greg-egan/) > [“I have no strength now to speak of my loss of strength.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/greg-egan/i-have-no-strength-now-to-speak-of-my-loss-of-strength/) [Greg Egan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/greg-egan/) > [“The only way up is up.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/greg-egan/the-only-way-up-is-up/) [Greg Egan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/greg-egan/) > [“My earliest memories are of CP4 — that's a Kähler manifold that looks locally like a vector space with four complex directions, though the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/greg-egan/my-earliest-memories-are-of-cp4-that-s-a-k-hler-manifold-that-looks/) [Greg Egan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/greg-egan/) > [“We’ve been half right about a lot of things, but there’s something missing from our theories, something whose nature we haven’t even guessed yet.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/greg-egan/we-ve-been-half-right-about-a-lot-of-things-but-there-s-something/) [Greg Egan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/greg-egan/) > [A story in Asimov's is read by hundreds of thousands of people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/greg-egan/a-story-in-asimov-s-is-read-by-hundreds-of-thousands-of-people/) [Greg Egan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/greg-egan/) > [“Imagine a universe entirely without structure, without shape, without connections. A cloud of microscopic events, like fragments of space-time … except that there is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/greg-egan/imagine-a-universe-entirely-without-structure-without-shape-without/) [Greg Egan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/greg-egan/) [Explore all 78 Greg Egan quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/greg-egan/) ## More Branches quotes > [ \[States and the Federal government are\] coordinate departments of one simple and integral whole... The one is the domestic, the other the foreign branch… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/states-and-the-federal-government-are-coordinate-departments-of-one/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [In our system of government, the judicial and legislative branches have different roles. Judges are not politicians. Judges must decide cases, not champion causes.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orrin-hatch/in-our-system-of-government-the-judicial-and-legislative-branches/) [Orrin Hatch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orrin-hatch/) > [The sugar maple is remarkable for its clean ankle. The groves of these trees looked like vast forest sheds, their branches stoppingshort at a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/the-sugar-maple-is-remarkable-for-its-clean-ankle-the-groves-of-these/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [Where is the subject that does not branch out into infinity? For every grain of sand is a mystery; so is every daisy in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-mountford/where-is-the-subject-that-does-not-branch-out-into-infinity-for-every/) [William Mountford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-mountford/) > [You know how this is: if I look at the crystal moon, at the red branch of the slow autumn at my window, if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-neruda/you-know-how-this-is-if-i-look-at-the-crystal-moon-at-the-red-branch/) [Pablo Neruda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-neruda/) > [Money is made at Christmas out of holly and mistletoe, but who save the vendors would greatly care if no green branch were procurable?…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-gissing/money-is-made-at-christmas-out-of-holly-and-mistletoe-but-who-save/) [George Gissing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-gissing/) > [“The branches do not support the root. But the root supports the branches.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lailah-gifty-akita/the-branches-do-not-support-the-root-but-the-root-supports-the/) [Lailah Gifty Akita](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lailah-gifty-akita/) > [We're the only branch of government that explains itself in writing every time itmakes a decision.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/byron-white/we-re-the-only-branch-of-government-that-explains-itself-in-writing/) [Byron White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/byron-white/) > [Certainly in the United States, you have a constituency in the form of the weapons laboratories, and you also have the branches of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-burroughs/certainly-in-the-united-states-you-have-a-constituency-in-the-form-of/) [John Burroughs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-burroughs/) > [The impossibility of separating the nomenclature of a science from the science itself, is owing to this, that every branch of physical science must…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/antoine-lavoisier/the-impossibility-of-separating-the-nomenclature-of-a-science-from/) [Antoine Lavoisier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/antoine-lavoisier/) > [ \[The judiciary is\] the least dangerous branch of our government. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-bickel/the-judiciary-is-the-least-dangerous-branch-of-our-government/) Alexander Bickel > [ For some unknown reason, this \[antiabortion\] branch of Christianity cherishes the unborn and hates the living person. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vine-deloria-jr/for-some-unknown-reason-this-antiabortion-branch-of-christianity/) [Vine Deloria Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vine-deloria-jr/) > [ \[W\]ar is a question, under our constitution, not of Executive, but of Legislative cognizance. It belongs to Congress to say whether the Nation shall… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-hamilton/w-ar-is-a-question-under-our-constitution-not-of-executive-but-of/) [Alexander Hamilton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-hamilton/) > [The sky is now indelible ink, The branches reft asunder; But you and I we do not shrink; We love the lovely thunder.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ogden-nash/the-sky-is-now-indelible-ink-the-branches-reft-asunder-but-you-and-i/) [Ogden Nash](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ogden-nash/) > [I have always wanted to branch off and become a fashion guru. I want to share my artistic views with the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-j-mclean/i-have-always-wanted-to-branch-off-and-become-a-fashion-guru-i-want/) [A. J. McLean](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-j-mclean/) Browse all 1,228 Branches quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Diaspora starts about a thousand years from now. Most of human civilisation has moved inside computers; essentially, a major branch of our descendants consists of conscious software.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Greg Egan" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/greg-egan/diaspora-starts-about-a-thousand-years-from-now-most-of-human/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Branches" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/greg-egan/diaspora-starts-about-a-thousand-years-from-now-most-of-human/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/108/greg-egan-8766_branches_diaspora-starts-about-a-thousand-years-f_2484636.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/108/greg-egan-8766_branches_diaspora-starts-about-a-thousand-years-f_2484636.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/108/greg-egan-8766_branches_diaspora-starts-about-a-thousand-years-f_2484636.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Diaspora starts about a thousand years from now. Most of human civilisation has moved inside computers…” — Greg Egan", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Greg Egan", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/greg-egan/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Diaspora starts about a thousand years...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/greg-egan/diaspora-starts-about-a-thousand-years-from-now-most-of-human/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/greg-egan/diaspora-starts-about-a-thousand-years-from-now-most-of-human/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```