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I think the point, or at least a parallel point, is that if we have the technology to terraform Mars, then we likely have the technology to terraform earth back

I think the point, or at least a parallel point, is that if we have the technology to terraform Mars, then we likely have the technology to terraform earth back to a more habitable environment. Eventually the situation will be come obvious enough that it can no longer be ignored by half of the West, and most of the developing world. When that happens, and a solution to the problem becomes a global priority, it will be solved in one manner or another.

JumpCrisscross 8y ago
> it will be solved in one manner or another The closer we get to that point, the worse it will be for those further from resources (political and financial).
- glial 8y ago
  Exactly. That's why I think people fantasizing about Mars instead of investing in fixing our current social/media/political situation is a severe misapplication of resources. I'm looking at you, Jeff Bezos.
  - Faark 8y ago
    We humans usually don't focus our resources on a single issues. Have you ever heard we have to stop spending money for cosmetics because right now we have to fix amazon deforestation? And even then, we usually don't go all in on a single plan but want backups. Mars might be one of those. A tiny one we barely invest any resources into. NASA is ~0.5 percent of the US budget. Cosmetics would be easily 3x that. I'm with your GP on that. Not terra-forming, but a small mars colony will prove Humans are able to live independent from earths ecology. That we have the necessary technology and just have to scale it up. That will be hard enough on potentially short available time frame we have to react, so doing the R&D now in form of a government financed space program will probably buy us necessary time. That doesn't mean the colony has to be independent of earths economy. Decoupling mines and factories from earths ecology will be a lot easier than doing so for e.g. food production. But yeah, that will be painful and I'd prefer mankind to find ways to keep our current environment intact.
    - chemicalnovae 8y ago
      Just to quip on your first point, we did a decent job (especially during the first and second world wars) of aligning ourselves, though the purchase of bonds and the like, on spending money on "guns".

JumpCrisscross 8y ago

> it will be solved in one manner or another The closer we get to that point, the worse it will be for those further from resources (political and financial).

glial 8y ago
Exactly. That's why I think people fantasizing about Mars instead of investing in fixing our current social/media/political situation is a severe misapplication of resources. I'm looking at you, Jeff Bezos.
- Faark 8y ago
  We humans usually don't focus our resources on a single issues. Have you ever heard we have to stop spending money for cosmetics because right now we have to fix amazon deforestation? And even then, we usually don't go all in on a single plan but want backups. Mars might be one of those. A tiny one we barely invest any resources into. NASA is ~0.5 percent of the US budget. Cosmetics would be easily 3x that. I'm with your GP on that. Not terra-forming, but a small mars colony will prove Humans are able to live independent from earths ecology. That we have the necessary technology and just have to scale it up. That will be hard enough on potentially short available time frame we have to react, so doing the R&D now in form of a government financed space program will probably buy us necessary time. That doesn't mean the colony has to be independent of earths economy. Decoupling mines and factories from earths ecology will be a lot easier than doing so for e.g. food production. But yeah, that will be painful and I'd prefer mankind to find ways to keep our current environment intact.
  - chemicalnovae 8y ago
    Just to quip on your first point, we did a decent job (especially during the first and second world wars) of aligning ourselves, though the purchase of bonds and the like, on spending money on "guns".