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If I were attempting to propose a novel physical theory here, I would do exactly what you say. And in fact papers and apparatuses are being worked on. But here
by blueprint 10y ago
If I were attempting to propose a novel physical theory here, I would do exactly what you say. And in fact papers and apparatuses are being worked on. But here my point that we ought to establish another basket for our eggs stands entirely independently of the validity of such a theory/proposal. And what's interesting is how hard the push-back still is.
- schoen 10y agoSpace exploration and colonization have always been extraordinarily contentious issues, regardless of people's take on particular existential risks. I know people who think space colonization is unequivocally the most important thing humanity can possibly do, and people who think it's among the least important or maybe even actively wrongful. I don't think you can expect to find clear consensus on this point right now. But at least an Elon Musk-style "we should be working on permanent human presence in space to mitigate risks to humanity's survival" idea is relatively mainstream on HN. Elsewhere in the thread you seemed to strongly disagree with other commenters about the expense of space travel, seemingly based on a technical proposal that you want to make, and you were dismayed about other people's reactions to your ideas. But in at least some views, the empirical questions about cost and feasibility must matter a lot, because space colonization doesn't mitigate every problem or risk humanity faces and might not appear as the only or best option for mitigating some of them right now. Your technical ideas might cause you to weight some of these risks and costs very differently (for example, it sounds like you think human extinction on Earth is relatively likely soon and space travel can be made drastically cheaper than it is today), but that kind of disagreement puts you back in empirical-technical territory.