Its a space of 1meter×1meterx1meter, basically a cubic meter where the matter replicator works on. (So, no replicating cars, since its too big)
How do you min-max this?
The vast majority of people would make as much money as they could. Quickly, the economy implodes. People soon realize they can exchange their matter replicator for eggs. A new billionaire class arises, using their millions of matter replicators to make basic necessities for the worker class. The modern assembly line is now just row upon row upon row of matter replicators. One man per warehouse, just moving from matter replicator to matter replicator.
A few smarter people used their matter replicators to make more matter replicators. Lobbyists quickly pass “safety regulations”, and these “black market” replicators are outlawed. Soon local police start advertising “amnesty”, where you can bring in your illegal matter replicator and exchange it, no questions asked, for a gun.
A few unlucky people used their matter replicators to make drugs. The purity of replicated drugs quickly renders these people unable to continue using their replicators. These replicators are collected by next-of-kin, stolen by the people that exchanged their own replicator for eggs, or accidentally destroyed.
You say it can create an object of a single M3.
I create a second one by replicating the parts.
May take a while but when the second one comes online the third one will be even faster.
This sounds like owning a 3d printer.
I feel the astounding energy needed to create matter would be the reason for the cooldown, so having more than one would make little difference.
My reading of the question implies that the replicator has the cool down. so having a second one will have an independent cool down.
It can’t be the energy. It has to be a matter rearranger, not something that makes matter from raw energy. Consider a cubic meter of water. It will have a mass of 1000 kg. By E=mc^2, that water has a mass energy of 9e19 Joules. New homes in the US are built with 200 amp panels, delivering power at 120V. The typical new home can draw up to 24,000 Watts from the grid.
At this max output, it would take a house 120 million years to draw enough electricity to create a cubic meter of water from nothing but pure electrical energy.
So this thing must actually work as a matter rearranger. You provide it a supply of pure elements and it synthesizes from there. Or, if it’s fancy, it creates elements by rearranging nuclei. But it can’t be something that truly creates matter ex nihilo.
Even if you didn’t want to use it for money, you’d have to use it for money somehow just to keep up with the inflation.
In Stephenson’s “Diamond Age” novel, even the super poor had basic access to in-home replicators. They were limited to pretty basic items, but they were available.
With everyone having access to basic goods, the rich people would go to villages of artisans that would hand make items to get unique, one of a kind things, as most crafts were now basically lost skills to most of society.
Throughout the story, the tech is explored and eventually hacked to upend society by removing limits on what can be generated by the replicator.
The obvious answer: Use your replicator to replicate more replicators.
The correct answer: The Young Lady’s Illustrated Primer.
The clever dick corollary: 1m3 is actually quite a large volume, and ain’t no rule says you can only replicate one object at a time. If whatever luxury item or commodity you want is small in volume, which it probably is, don’t forget you can replicate a whole bunch of it within a meter cube.
One cubic meter fits a literal ton of whatever you want.
Not booze :(
A metric ton, anyway, and provided whatever you want is water.
Nah, it can also do a ton of anything denser than water, or anything that can be compressed to be denser than water.
Beyond the easy answers of replicating the machine itself or covering basic needs, I think it would be interesting to make a super computer with a small form factor capable of mind uploading. Then you print a replacement body in a position that fits within a cubic meter and presumably you can extend your life for a bit. A simpler alternative would be to replicate medicines that have been shown to extend healthspans in the short term and just take them in the recommended dosage when you need to.
Uploading your consciousness to a machine wouldn’t really extend your lifespan. Think of it like moving a file from one device to another; the file isn’t actually moved, you just get a copy on the second device. You and your digital clone will also begin to diverge immediately as the lived experience of being a new digital entity would be different from continuing life as a meat person.
The closest you can get is to Ship of Theseus it; get a machine implant which gradually takes over brain functions as cells die or parts of the brain fail. Single stream of consciousness in a single body, now fully digitised. Incidentally this is also closer to biological processes to replace cells, though the brain cells renew much less frequently then other cell types. I think some areas don’t naturally get replaced over a lifetime too but I’m not certain on that, either way you’d want to go faster than natural cell replacement.
Alternatively you could make the transfer process dissolve your meat brain. Personally I’d say you are dead and your clone lives on but its the same argument as Star Trek style transporters; the clone still feels like it’s you so if they got to where you want to go does it really matter?
Yup, mind uploading is making a copy. If the copying process is destruct, that doesn’t make it less of a copy. Your copy would remember your decision, so it will know it’s a copy as long as it knew how the process works.
I’d use it to make more replicators. Essentially have exponential replicators
Wouldn’t you need two replicators? One to be replicated and one to do the replicating? And if the replicator itself is a box (assumption since it was not specifies) the replicator would have to be larger than the max size.
I was busy thinking about that. Why not make a replicator without limits if possible? No downsides because then you’d be able to create what you want when you want. Anyone dumb enough not to think of that would be stuck using it once a day while you are able to create all you want.
The moment you try to min max the economy will fall apart. Replicate new PC parts? Cool, but now intel/AMD/Nvidia will go bankrupt, no more development. So I guess you could min-max the economical revolution. Capitalism doesn’t appear to make sense in a world with near endless access to anything.
Personally I’d get heaps of food and water
I hate that by now, I have found a way for capitalist to bill you anyways.
Wait… So getting ample food and water to common people is a downside to capitalism?
Yea you are right, if people are fed and satisfied. They wont be needing any unnecessary stuff that feeds the capitalist.
Nah, economy would suffer and adapt, but not technology or science. Engineers still would get together and work on new designs, but not for money.
Seriously, we don’t give a shit, if we have enough to eat and buy some fun toys we’re thrilled to keep up our mad experiments.
Make something that’ll EMP everyone’s replicators before people start replicating nukes.
Yes the Max is the current status quo, but given the Min is almost certainly the destruction of the world, so status quo is probably the best we can hope for.
And maybe I’d make a sandwich if there’s room for it along with the EMP.
Is the 24 hour thing the only limitation? Can it replicate stuff that doesn’t exist yet?
This is a matter replicator, not a matter plicator
😉
Solid cube of antimatter. Fuck you world!
Understandable. Have a great day.
That would definitely end you and a majority of the New York metropolitan area… but it wouldn’t end the world.
I’d probably replicate a 1x1x1m cube of tungsten, then realize I have no way of removing it from the replicator.
Day 1: create 264 gallons of water (probably enough for a month)
Day 2: create a cubic meter of food (also probably enough for a month)
Day 3 to next rationing: spend thinking of all the awesome things I could create but end up getting overwhelmed and doing nothing instead
Day 2: create a cubic meter of food (also probably enough for a month)
Now I’m just imagining a cubic meter of spam.
Additional day 3: be overjoyed that you can just replicate your basic needs, so you now can work less (or not at all). All that free time! Think of all the projects xou could do!
Start by replicating junk food and beer and sloth around until the evening of Day 29, panic, make plans for some way to big Project for Day 30. Day 30 replicate stuff you need for the project. Before properly starting, realize you forgot to
buyreplicate some crucial stuff buthome depot is now closedyou’ve already used the replicas quota, be discouraged, overwhelmed, give up, promise “next month is going to be different!”.overwhelmed and doing nothing instead
I’m in this comment and I don’t like it
We know it can replicate multiple objects at once, because tea earl grey hot and the cup it comes in are multiple objects, and Picard often gets it on a saucer as well. So I would create a pile of everything I need for that day.
Replicate the replicator. Next day, use both to replicate replicators. Repeat ad nauseam.
Have the replicator print a replicator that auto-prints identical copies of itself as often as it can so you can cause the collapse of reality without having to be involved.
Hell, have the replicator print a replicator without the 24-hour cooldown to hurry things along a little
