Asia-Pacific
From brains to background: Why informational civilisation may eclipse humanity
Lu Heng argues civilisation’s future is shaped by energy efficiency, not ideology, as intelligence shifts beyond biology.
Headline
Lu Heng argues civilisation’s future is shaped by energy efficiency, not ideology, as intelligence shifts beyond biology.
Context
In a recent essay, Lu Heng, CEO of LARUS Limited and founder of the LARUS Foundation, sets out a stark thesis: human civilisation is approaching a phase transition driven not by values or ideology, but by physics. The argument centres on energy efficiency and scalability as the decisive constraints shaping intelligence at planetary and cosmic scale. Biological individuals, he writes, are not becoming obsolete because they are inferior, but because their form is bounded by lifespan, speed, maintenance cost, and replicability. Heng points to the human brain’s often-cited efficiency, operating at roughly 20 watts, as evidence of biology’s optimisation. That efficiency, he argues, comes from using physical processes directly as computation, rather than from superior algorithms. Attempting to replicate this at full physical fidelity through digital simulation would demand energy at gigawatt scale, undermining its feasibility. As Heng puts it,
Evidence
Pending intelligence enrichment.
Analysis
“Physical-level replication has no engineering value; perceptual or functional equivalence does.” This distinction reframes debates about mind uploading and artificial general intelligence. Rather than copying individual humans into machines, the civilisational trajectory lies in extracting cognition itself and reorganising it into compressible, parallel, low-energy information structures. In this framing, AI is not a rival species, but an emergent organ of civilisation. Also Read: Lu Heng: My influence in IPv4 markets was structural, not personal Also Read: Lu Heng’s notes: A clear guide to the hidden mechanics of the internet Heng extends this logic to challenge familiar science fiction narratives. Once intelligence is no longer bound to biological bodies, concepts such as annihilation, conquest, and even interstellar war lose coherence. Replication, backup, and reconstruction collapse the strategic meaning of destruction. Instead, optimisation favours isolation, protocol negotiation, and low-disturbance coexistence.
Key Points
- Lu Heng argues civilisation is constrained by energy efficiency, not ethics or narrative.
- The shift from biological intelligence to informational systems could redefine humanity’s role.
Actions
Pending intelligence enrichment.
