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> Love, in many ways, is completely irrational At least I know what love is. So when someone does something foolish for love, I understand. But when someone
by grondilu 9y ago
> Love, in many ways, is completely irrational
At least I know what love is. So when someone does something foolish for love, I understand.
But when someone tells me he wants to spend billions to live in a small box on a cold, airless desert planet constantly bombarded by lethal radiations, and when he justifies that by "that's mars, and that's the only justification I need", I tend to think that's quite an other level of irrationality.
- sillysaurus3 9y agoMost of us already live in a small box in a cold desert. It's just cold in a different way. I'm not sure Mars will turn out differently. But in the early days, the people will be unique. And that's worth experiencing, even if it's for a short while. When you're in a situation where you could die tomorrow, and you're with other people who signed up knowing those risks, it's different than almost any other experience available to humans. Yes, it's a form of craziness. But a dose of crazy can sometimes work out in rather interesting ways. Or it won't. But there are worse ways to light billions on fire. People have been writing stories about Mars for a long time. Isn't it worth a few billion dollars and a few million lives to bring those stories to life?
- babyrainbow 9y ago> Isn't it worth a few billion dollars and a few million lives to bring those stories to life?.. Do you really mean this, I mean, I don't even....
- sillysaurus3 9y agoYou bet. What are our lives worth? I think spawning a new world is a fine use. Also, that "lives" figure is counting the descendants of the people that eventually make a life for themselves on Mars. Those descendants won't get a choice, and one could argue it's unethical to put them in that position. So any analysis of how many lives Mars is worth must take this into account. And if it's anywhere near successful, a few million lives is at the low end.
- irrational 9y agoYeah, I'm still pissed that my ancestors left England for the Americas in the 1600s. I didn't get any say in the matter and it was totally unethical of them to put me in this position. So selfish. Sad.
- babyrainbow 9y agoDid you also count the amount of lives that could be saved here on earth for the same amount of money. What about their descendants? (by the way, who has a much better chance of surviving here on earth than in the fragile conditions in what ever planet)...
- ceejayoz 9y agoIf you're going for raw cost/benefit, there's a good argument to be made for the cost/benefit ratio of being a multi-planet species safe from planet-killing asteroids etc.
- simonh 9y agoThen don't. But look at human history and you'll find endless examples of people risking everything for causes they believed in. How much is making a real dent in the universe, and being on a list of names that will be revered as long as human records survive worth?
- babyrainbow 9y ago> people risking everything for causes they believed in.. And often have been taken advantage of....Just saying...
- irrational 9y agoEveryone is going to die, but few will be remembered. Those who first go to Mars will be remembered long after their deaths. Whether they are remembered as being crazy or colonizers, they will be remembered. For many that is enough.
- grondilu 9y agoAgain, we're not talking about going to mars for the sake of it, like someone climbing the Everest because nobody has ever done it. There's even a saying : "nobody remembers the second person who climbed the Everest". We're talking about colonization, not Everest-like conquest. Most colonizers will be anonymous. Whatever goals they'll have, fame will not be one of them.
- Turbots 9y agoMost of the advancements in this world came of the fact that (mostly) European countries colonized the Americas...
- irrational 9y agoI'm not even sure who the first person was, but I bet Wikipedia can tell me their names. That's the kind of remembering I'm thinking of.
- huxley 9y agoMost people have trouble naming more than 3 Apollo astronauts, I wouldn't hold out much hope for living in people's memories.
- irrational 9y agoI'm thinking more of history books or Wikipedia type of remembering.
- Turbots 9y agoyou didnt even bother reading the start of the article, and the biggest reason why Musk wants to do this: to make our species multi-planetary. Not just because it's fun, but because, one day, an extinction event will come to Earth (eventually, an astroid is bound to hit us, its a statistical fact) so he wants to make sure humanity survives that event. Also, it's a stepping stone to the next planet, and the next, and the next... Where do you want humanity to be in a thousand years, heck, even a million? Still only on Earth? Or out there, among the stars?