What is the ultimate fate of the universe? The big crunch and the big freeze aside, what is the fate of intelligent beings in the universe? It is reasonable to assume that even if it is the case that humanity and its spawn become destroyed, then other intelligent species across the universe will nonetheless go on existing. If not all intelligent life is destroyed by the time the big freeze would render the cosmos uninhabitable, or the big crunch would obliviate all life as we know it in the universe, then hopefully at least one species in the cosmos would advance to a high enough profile of intellgience to make these occurrences avoidable. This would mean that this species in question would pretty much have control over the entire universe, not unlike how one might define god, as that which is omnipotent. Can a species really reach omnipotency? What are the requirements on the knolwedge this species must have? Is there a limit to knowledge? What comes next for this species?

This is the general scenario in which how I imagine the end of the universe is to ultimately take place, and it hinges on a couple of assumptions of course, which I will explain. Supposing at least one intelligent lifeform is able to survive the big crunch or big freeze, if this intelligence is not already omnipotent, then it is well on the way to becoming so. With omnipotency, would it not be possible to then finally answer the question, is there a God? With omnipotency we would have the keys to unlocking God's secret door, and once we find him, he might give his congratulations and welcome us to spend the rest of eternity his commune.

The other option is that after omnipotency has been acheived by a species, it finally discovers that God does not exist, and instead of being congratulated, the species just gets a big Game Over. Just the black screen that exists forever into the future. If this species is omnipotent, like we have been assuming, then it must have the ability to end its consciousness if it so desired. However, it is interesting to think of something with omnipotency as having complete domain over the universe, and thus is the entire universe. Ending its consciousness would translate in my own mind based on my own beleifs to mean discontinuing its complexity, i.e., all complexity throughout the universe. Once that happens, it is no longer omnipotent, and the bits of peices of what it was are now back to indvidual components with almost no intelligence. So these bits and peices would be free to start the process all over again, to arise from the ashes, in a continuing circle of suicide and rebirth. And this is irregardless of whether we have a big crunch or big freeze, which are assumed to be minor obstacles to an omnipotent life force.

So what have I been assuming in this scenario then? In order to be omnipotent, one must be omniscent. Thus for an enitity to become omnipotent there must be a limit to knwoledge in the universe. If there is, then one day a conscious entity will be able to answer "where are you God?" by force if neccessary. If there is no limit to knolwedge in the universe, then omnipotence can never be acheived, and it would always then be possible for God to be hiding behind some secret door, whose keys stem from knolwedge we continually and habitually overlook by chasing away at the tail of some other portion of the infinite well of the knowledge.