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I think the whole colonization angle is widely overblown and it's become embedded in our views about space by a century of genre fiction most of which couldn't

by Steko 11y ago

I think the whole colonization angle is widely overblown and it's become embedded in our views about space by a century of genre fiction most of which couldn't break out of the colonial mindset. Technology is going to destroy birth rates and scarcity and machines will rapidly eclipse our own abilities to do anything and so future man will smartly answer the question of inter-planetary and perhaps interstellar travel with 'machines not people'. Eventually we may leave Earth on some scale but I doubt we'll ever run out of room or resources here and be forced to leave.

hugh4 11y ago
People colonise not just to get more room or resources. North America was colonised by people who wanted to get away from the political situation at home. Australia was colonised because the government wanted to get criminal away from Britain. (And other strategic reasons, yes yes, whatever.) In both cases, colonisation was desirable in order for some people to be able to put some distance between them and some other people. And this desire won't go away. Imagine, the solar system would be a more harmonious place if everyone with rather strong ideas about how the world should be run could simply go start their own world to be run that way. You could have a libertarian planet, a socialist planet, a centre-left planet, a centre-right planet, and if someone didn't like the way things were run they could move to a new planet. Of course there's not enough planets for that, but there's enough raw materials to build enough orbital habitats.
- Steko 11y ago
  > And this desire won't go away. I don't think that's clear at all. I think the widespread view that society is going to keep looking more or less like the present but with self driving cars is complete folly. Technology is going to -- among other things -- destroy scarcity, erase language barriers, end warfare, conquer disease and educate the masses. The societal changes coming are bigger than industrialization, maybe bigger than moving from hunter gatherers to agriculture. > Imagine, the solar system would be a more harmonious place if everyone with rather strong ideas about how the world should be run could simply go start their own world to be run that way. That doesn't sound very harmonious at all. That sounds like institutionalizing ignorance as an organizing principle and seems like something intelligent society would move away from.
  - TeMPOraL 11y ago
    > That doesn't sound very harmonious at all. That sounds like institutionalizing ignorance as an organizing principle and seems like something intelligent society would move away from. I don't see how this is "institutionalizing ignorance", though on its own I agree it may not be very harmonious; it sounds like a recipe for an interplanetary nuclear conflict.
  - andars 11y ago
    What motivates your astounding faith in technology?

by Steko 11y ago

hugh4 11y ago

People colonise not just to get more room or resources. North America was colonised by people who wanted to get away from the political situation at home. Australia was colonised because the government wanted to get criminal away from Britain. (And other strategic reasons, yes yes, whatever.) In both cases, colonisation was desirable in order for some people to be able to put some distance between them and some other people. And this desire won't go away. Imagine, the solar system would be a more harmonious place if everyone with rather strong ideas about how the world should be run could simply go start their own world to be run that way. You could have a libertarian planet, a socialist planet, a centre-left planet, a centre-right planet, and if someone didn't like the way things were run they could move to a new planet. Of course there's not enough planets for that, but there's enough raw materials to build enough orbital habitats.

Steko 11y ago
> And this desire won't go away. I don't think that's clear at all. I think the widespread view that society is going to keep looking more or less like the present but with self driving cars is complete folly. Technology is going to -- among other things -- destroy scarcity, erase language barriers, end warfare, conquer disease and educate the masses. The societal changes coming are bigger than industrialization, maybe bigger than moving from hunter gatherers to agriculture. > Imagine, the solar system would be a more harmonious place if everyone with rather strong ideas about how the world should be run could simply go start their own world to be run that way. That doesn't sound very harmonious at all. That sounds like institutionalizing ignorance as an organizing principle and seems like something intelligent society would move away from.
- TeMPOraL 11y ago
  > That doesn't sound very harmonious at all. That sounds like institutionalizing ignorance as an organizing principle and seems like something intelligent society would move away from. I don't see how this is "institutionalizing ignorance", though on its own I agree it may not be very harmonious; it sounds like a recipe for an interplanetary nuclear conflict.
- andars 11y ago
  What motivates your astounding faith in technology?