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I think we'll achieve singularity level mind uploading before anyone physically goes to any other planet. And, to be honest, makes a lot more sense to do it tha

by lz400 9y ago

I think we'll achieve singularity level mind uploading before anyone physically goes to any other planet. And, to be honest, makes a lot more sense to do it that way. Carrying humans around, with limited lifespans and feeble bodies, makes space travel wasteful and stupid. All those problems dissapear once people are only software. I even think trying is a waste of time, I wished Musk was focused on brain research, not rockets.

trixie_ 9y ago
A single ballistic missile sub has the potential to nuke 192 cities in a single go. Better hope your singularity/mind uploading stuff happens before then. Maybe if there were some people left on Mars after the nuclear holocaust we would of had a better chance.
- lz400 9y ago
  I hope so too :) but what I mean is even removing apocalyptic scenarios, I still think serious space travel with flesh and blood humans is never going to happen
ben_w 9y ago
Disagree. The tech to reach Mars has already been invented, and while the cost needs to decline Musk has a plan to get there from here; conversely nobody yet knows how much we have yet to learn about brain function in order to make the simulations people instead of p-zombies (or even non-functional, not sure which is worse), and right now (despite Musk’s brain interface side project) full brain scanning requires death. Further, the only estimate I have for how much processing power will be needed to simulate a human brain in real time is 10^19 flops, which means Moore’s Law needs to carry on for another 25 years just for the hardware to beat Musk’s Mars ticket price.
- lz400 9y ago
  One thing is having the technology to send a rocket to Mars, another thing to have a completely functional and self-sustaining colony, that doesn't depend on Earth supplies and that offers the possibility of a life that is not just growing potatoes and looking at rocks from the habitat's window. I suspect we're hundreds of years from the latter.
  - ben_w 9y ago
    That’s reasonable, but you did originally say “physically goes to” rather than “colonises”.
    - lz400 9y ago
      I think it's possibly the same or similar. I don't buy the pioneering mission with people who go knowing that they're not going to get back and possibly die of radiation exposure. I think nobody is going up there until there's a lot more tech in place, at least at the level of The Martian, ie: knowing how to get them back and guaranteeing survival

by lz400 9y ago

trixie_ 9y ago

A single ballistic missile sub has the potential to nuke 192 cities in a single go. Better hope your singularity/mind uploading stuff happens before then. Maybe if there were some people left on Mars after the nuclear holocaust we would of had a better chance.

lz400 9y ago
I hope so too :) but what I mean is even removing apocalyptic scenarios, I still think serious space travel with flesh and blood humans is never going to happen

ben_w 9y ago

Disagree. The tech to reach Mars has already been invented, and while the cost needs to decline Musk has a plan to get there from here; conversely nobody yet knows how much we have yet to learn about brain function in order to make the simulations people instead of p-zombies (or even non-functional, not sure which is worse), and right now (despite Musk’s brain interface side project) full brain scanning requires death. Further, the only estimate I have for how much processing power will be needed to simulate a human brain in real time is 10^19 flops, which means Moore’s Law needs to carry on for another 25 years just for the hardware to beat Musk’s Mars ticket price.

lz400 9y ago
One thing is having the technology to send a rocket to Mars, another thing to have a completely functional and self-sustaining colony, that doesn't depend on Earth supplies and that offers the possibility of a life that is not just growing potatoes and looking at rocks from the habitat's window. I suspect we're hundreds of years from the latter.
- ben_w 9y ago
  That’s reasonable, but you did originally say “physically goes to” rather than “colonises”.
  - lz400 9y ago
    I think it's possibly the same or similar. I don't buy the pioneering mission with people who go knowing that they're not going to get back and possibly die of radiation exposure. I think nobody is going up there until there's a lot more tech in place, at least at the level of The Martian, ie: knowing how to get them back and guaranteeing survival