Thank you for pointing this out. By “turning Earth into a giant computer” I did indeed mean “the surface of the Earth”. The consequences for biological life are the same, of course. As for heat dissipation, I’m no expert but I guess there would be ways to radiate it into space, using Earth’s internal heat (instead of sunlight) as the main energy source. A Dyson sphere may be optimal in the long run, but I think that turning Earth’s surface into computronium would be a step on the way.
Thank you for pointing this out. By “turning Earth into a giant computer” I did indeed mean “the surface of the Earth”. The consequences for biological life are the same, of course. As for heat dissipation, I’m no expert but I guess there would be ways to radiate it into space, using Earth’s internal heat (instead of sunlight) as the main energy source. A Dyson sphere may be optimal in the long run, but I think that turning Earth’s surface into computronium would be a step on the way.