Even in most general terms... I cannot know.
However, I can guess. There are roughly six billion humans. Our current existence means... pretty much oversized locusts. Consuming almost as much as we can, reproducing almost equally fast. Just like oversized locusts, we live only for a while, after which a new generation must take over.
How would this balance change, in case of creatures possessing detailed knowledge and experience regarding their own structure and function? Enough to jump over their own shadow -- repair, maintain, perhaps even knowingly build and change themselves?
I suspect their population would be large, but not necessarily greater. Enough to maintain diversity and manage their tasks, but much less crowded, I would suspect. Less than would fit in their living environment. For us and most creatures like us, large numbers are a necessary precaution to ensure quick evolution and general survival of our kind.
For creatures who no longer need the safety net of population numbers, and can multiply more efficiently if the need should arise, I suspect that typical population levels would be smaller. In the imaginary world of Babylon 5, there might be tens of billions of Humans and Centauri, but only one billion of Shadows or Vorlons, perhaps even less.
Even with their smaller numbers, such creatures would consume countless times more energy, store and process countless times more information, even when using less matter to produce that energy and store that information.
With technical enhancements to original biological structures, their personality would probably lean towards greater flexibility, greater independence and detachment from body. One might speculate that with creatures like Shadows, the word "body" might mean something like "customized personal living environment".
I suspect they would change bodies much like we change our clothes, according to need and mood. With sufficiently long time, it might be possible for our natural mode of living to disappear. Having your own body would probably be convenient, but if needed, one could manage without it.
Shadows would probably be quite puzzled by the fact that the younger races cannot transfer their mind from one computing environment into another. Just like for us, having your own car is more convenient than using public transport, for a Shadow, having your own body would greatly facilitate travel, research, study and communication.
Ships would probably be considered simply another level of extension, something like "customized portable long-range transport environement". Their sensors would be just another replacement for eyes, their tools and weapons just another replacement for hands.
With a greatly diminished, perhaps entirely disappeared role of natural biology, along with increasing role of artificial systems performing similar tasks, reproduction would probably become much easier, much more efficient. I suspect that in our eyes, Shadow reproduction would qualify as gross software piracy. /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif
They might possibly take part of their own personality, perhaps parts of others too, assemble something they would consider suitable. They would allocate it some memory, give it some processing time, initially let it grow as part of their own mind. Finally, they would probably transfer it into a new living environment, where it could grow, learn and interact with the world independently.
Our kind reproduces by transfer of cells and genes, letting them gradually build a new person, a mind which gradually programs itself. Shadows or Vorlons would probably not rely on genes. Their development probably relies that heavily on the mind... that they would probably assemble the mind first, and provide it with a body later.
Individual development might occur on an entirely different timescale. We learn in decades, use our knowledge for decades, then slowly become forgetful and fade away, either quickly or slowly. For creatures of Shadow/Vorlon technical level, learning might take centuries, millennia, ages. With little or no forgetfulness, I suspect they would have to manage their own memory.
All pure speculation, suitable ideas for fan fiction. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif
