how do you even go about installing one? Would it have to be built on Earth first then transported? Is it the next logical step if we want to become a multiplanetary, spacefaring civilisation?

>>16738835 (OP)
>Are Dyson spheres hypothetically possible?
Yes. You wouldn't build a single contiguous sphere but rather an array of modular satellites and in that regard we already have the technology to do it today.
>how do you even go about installing one?
Launch construction and mining drones into space. Use resources mined from asteroids to build more drones and ultimately industrialize space until you have sufficient infrastructure to build the dyson array. You will likely have to reinvent the manufacture of certain common materials for microgravity and a high radiation environment.
>Earth first then transported?
No. Basically impossible with chemical rockets and still not hugely practical with orbital rings/space elevators. You would perform all manufacturing in space taking advantage of local resources (e.g. asteroids) and ISRU.
>Is it the next logical step if we want to become a multiplanetary, spacefaring civilisation?
You could use a laser powered by a relatively small dyson array to propel a spacecraft with a solar sail to near luminal velocities (see breakthrough starshot) making it possible to reach nearby stars in a few years from the perspective of any humans aboard such a craft due to time dilation. For deceleration you could detach the outer circle of the sail and have it origami itself to act as a retroreflector to slow the vessel. E.g. at 1 g constant acceleration you could reach tau ceti in ~5.5 years from the perspective of a traveler and ~12 years from the perspective of Earth.

>>16738835 (OP)
A Dyson sphere as a single, solid object is a retarded misunderstanding of the original idea. The original idea is that over time the building of solar power collectors, space habitats, space based manufacturing facilities, and so on will eventually end up nearly surrounding a star in a swarm of stuff capturing nearly all the light emitted from said star. The materials for said structures would come from planets, asteroids, moons, etc in that star system.

As for how plausible the swarm idea is? Well if a species has even a small positive growth rate in their space activities & population then such a swarm seems like a natural development after a long enough (say thousands of years) period of time. Assuming of course they don't fight some super wars destroying all their stuff, fall under the sway of some maladaptive cultural traits that destroy the birth rates of those smart enough to build such things, or figure out some alternative tech that makes building large space structures pointless.

>>16738835 (OP)
Dyson was credited with coining the idea of the Dyson sphere in the 60s but he actually got the idea from Olaf Stapleton's book "Starmaker" published in 1937.

Dyson even credited Stapleton for the idea but you retards keep calling it the Dyson sphere even though Dyson himself said it should be called the Stapleton sphere.

>>16738849
>the original idea
You very clearly have never ever even heard of Starmaker and are talking out your ass.

>>16738835 (OP)
You would need the resources of millions of earth-sized planets to build a dyson sphere at the limit of earth's orbit, not to mention the fuel expenditures to transport that much mass.

It would just be easier to colonize a hundred new planets

>>16739505