Can a civilization truly last forever?

[hammertime]

Hey, sorry I've been asking these hypothetical questions about future advanced civilizations, but I have another question. It's a bit nebulous, and I apologize for that.

Can a civilization last forever? And I mean truly forever.
Or would something happen, sooner or later, to wipe it out (i.e. running out of resources, cataclysmic war, black hole, etc)?

Thanks.

 

[Moridin]

Most of the civilizations that has ever existed has died out, replaced or annihilated. It is irrational to think that this will not happen to ours as well.

I'll wager on some of, or a combination of, the following:

Asteroid
Religious War
Nuclear War

 

[out of whack]

Can a civilization last forever? And I mean truly forever.

Given your "truly forever" criteria, if civilization implies order and if universal entropy must continue to increase without bounds then I suppose not.

 

[Danger]

I agree with OOW. The Universe can't last forever, so how can anything in it?

 

[Mk]

I agree with OOW. The Universe can't last forever, so how can anything in it?

Who says a civilization isn't advanced enough to move to a different universe?

 

[click]

Probably not... Something always happens in the end...
An insane chimp they have would, one day, find a way to attain vengeance by eliminating them all.

 

[ozymandias]

Can a civilization last forever? And I mean truly forever.

Neglecting the age of the universe question, I still believe the answer is no.
"Living" things, civilizations included, seem to display a growth and death pattern.
At one point or another all civilizations seem to stagnate.
Of course no one can give you a guarantee one way or another.

--------
Assaf
http://www.physicallyincorrect.com/"

 

[Danger]

Who says a civilization isn't advanced enough to move to a different universe?

That's a theory that I'd like to believe in, but I can't. It's a matter of: show me.
On the other hand, I'm quite comfortable with the fact that I've died billions upon billions of times and am still here. Quantum branching means that I'm essentially immortal due to the fact that the 'me' that I know and love is the one inhabiting a timeline that includes it. One of 'me' is going to keep going.
Okay, this is getting into stuff that isn't allowed by PF guidelines, so I'm bailing.

 

[glondor]

Our chances of survival would increase if we could branch out from the planet and inhabit Mars, Venus , The moon. A few increases in tech and the will to go would at least get the eggs out of one basket and spread us around a bit. A question could be: Could a colony of 2500 people on the moon or Mars survive if cut off from Earth due to any disaster on Earth. How advanced and well entrenched would they have to be to make it and move on? How long would it take to reach a level of self sustainability and progress...The sooner we move out the greater our chances imho

 

[Ivan Seeking]

Hey, sorry I've been asking these hypothetical questions about future advanced civilizations, but I have another question. It's a bit nebulous, and I apologize for that.

Can a civilization last forever? And I mean truly forever.
Or would something happen, sooner or later, to wipe it out (i.e. running out of resources, cataclysmic war, black hole, etc)?

Thanks.

Just out of curiosity, do you mean a civilization or a species? Civilizations have come and gone but humans have survived. Also, if the human race survives for another billion years, our decendents probably wouldn't be recognizable as human. And already we find creatures in places like the intersection of Hollywood and Vine Blvds, who don't appear to be fully human.