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> I can't help thinking that those people who get excited > about building a city on mars are completely delusional. That's what they once said about walking o

by hayd 10y ago

> I can't help thinking that those people who get excited > about building a city on mars are completely delusional. That's what they once said about walking on the moon.

grondilu 10y ago
Well, there is probably a reason why nobody thought it was worth doing it again ever since. More seriously though, just because many projects were wrongly considered foolish in the past, does not mean one can not point at a new one and call it foolish. History tends to remember those who turned out to be brilliant, and forget all those who genuinely were foolish. The example I like is Franz Reichelt [1]. People around him were watching as he prepared to meet his death. Nobody said "don't do that, you'll kill yourself". Why? I guess because they were not sure, and they did not want to be the person who dissed someone who might be remembered as say the Wright brothers were. I guess I'm not comfortable being the guy who says nothing as he watches people being foolish or delusional. 1. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FBN3xfGrx_U https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FBN3xfGrx_U
- sqeaky 10y ago
  Was he really foolish or just ahead of his time and willing to brave the risks? OK, that one guy was foolish he should have started small and worked his way up. Perhaps a death defying leap onto a mattress, would have been better. But there are plenty of others who were close to a variety of successes and them not succeeding doesn't mean they were foolish. There must have been hundreds or thousands of potential aviators, but we remember the brothers at Kittyhawk because of their success. This doesn't make the others fools, likely they were successful in some of their other plans or iterated on designs more like the flyer afterwards. From all of their perspectives as long as they minimized danger, unlike Franz, they would live to see another day and keep attempting High risk High reward situations. This is much the same with startups today. Plenty made their fortunes in tech startups and while history might call all but a few failures, many are relaxing with their millions or even just comfortable enjoying their backup plan of a high tech job and settling down with a family. EDIT - Grammar, wording and spelling.
- platypii 10y ago
  Franz Reichelt clearly failed in his approach, but his idea was not crazy -- today we have wingsuits that can fly.
  - grondilu 10y ago
    Yet as of today nobody has ever landed with just a wingsuit. You need a parachute.
    - an_cap 10y ago
      Not true. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gary_Connery https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gary_Connery
      - grondilu 10y ago
        That's an argument of semantics. I mean people can jump onto giant airbags without either parachute or jumpsuit from very high heights. I wouldn't call that landing, and in any case that's not what Franz Reichet was attempting.

by hayd 10y ago

> I can't help thinking that those people who get excited > about building a city on mars are completely delusional. That's what they once said about walking on the moon.

grondilu 10y ago

Well, there is probably a reason why nobody thought it was worth doing it again ever since. More seriously though, just because many projects were wrongly considered foolish in the past, does not mean one can not point at a new one and call it foolish. History tends to remember those who turned out to be brilliant, and forget all those who genuinely were foolish. The example I like is Franz Reichelt [1]. People around him were watching as he prepared to meet his death. Nobody said "don't do that, you'll kill yourself". Why? I guess because they were not sure, and they did not want to be the person who dissed someone who might be remembered as say the Wright brothers were. I guess I'm not comfortable being the guy who says nothing as he watches people being foolish or delusional. 1. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FBN3xfGrx_U https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FBN3xfGrx_U

sqeaky 10y ago
Was he really foolish or just ahead of his time and willing to brave the risks? OK, that one guy was foolish he should have started small and worked his way up. Perhaps a death defying leap onto a mattress, would have been better. But there are plenty of others who were close to a variety of successes and them not succeeding doesn't mean they were foolish. There must have been hundreds or thousands of potential aviators, but we remember the brothers at Kittyhawk because of their success. This doesn't make the others fools, likely they were successful in some of their other plans or iterated on designs more like the flyer afterwards. From all of their perspectives as long as they minimized danger, unlike Franz, they would live to see another day and keep attempting High risk High reward situations. This is much the same with startups today. Plenty made their fortunes in tech startups and while history might call all but a few failures, many are relaxing with their millions or even just comfortable enjoying their backup plan of a high tech job and settling down with a family. EDIT - Grammar, wording and spelling.
platypii 10y ago
Franz Reichelt clearly failed in his approach, but his idea was not crazy -- today we have wingsuits that can fly.
- grondilu 10y ago
  Yet as of today nobody has ever landed with just a wingsuit. You need a parachute.
  - an_cap 10y ago
    Not true. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gary_Connery https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gary_Connery
    - grondilu 10y ago
      That's an argument of semantics. I mean people can jump onto giant airbags without either parachute or jumpsuit from very high heights. I wouldn't call that landing, and in any case that's not what Franz Reichet was attempting.