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> The logical solution is to fund space travel. Why? We have the technology and resources now to house, clothe and feed most the world's population. The main r

> The logical solution is to fund space travel. Why? We have the technology and resources now to house, clothe and feed most the world's population. The main reason we do not is we choose "deserving" and "undeserving" populations and individuals. As our technology improves further and the global population begins to decline this will become even more evident. Space exploration is great. But suffering is a choice we collectively make every day.

keiferski 6y ago
I’m not really sure how to understand your comment. I am replying to the linked article about the repugnant conclusion. Housing, clothing and food are not the only things necessary for maximizing happiness. Even if every human being had these, there would still be differences of happiness.
- DubiousPusher 6y ago
  And space exploration solves happiness for a significant portion of the human population? If we're talking about minimizing the repugnant conclusion we're generally talking about resources and how they're distributed.
  - keiferski 6y ago
    Well, because space travel would enable more resource acquisition and more humans to then use those resources productively to be happy. If we limit ourselves to Earth, we quickly run out. Basically the old argument about expanding the size of the pie vs. fighting over the current one.
    - DubiousPusher 6y ago
      Let's be real though. There are enough resources now. There is really no reason to believe that if the resources of another world fell under Earth's control that those resources would be used to enrich more people than would be exploited to extract them. And in a situation where these new resources would be behind the most significant barrier to entry in human history, they would almost certainly be controlled by the wealthy. That's why I'm saying that at this point, it's not about how much, it's about us making a positive choice to orient society so that the resources we do have are used to enrich as many human lives as possible. Without that, you're just creating even more wealth for the elite.
      - keiferski 6y ago
        I don't think this is true or likely at all. Space is pretty much infinite and while it may take a few hundred years (or even a thousand) for personal space travel to be possible, that's nothing on a longer timeline.

keiferski 6y ago

I’m not really sure how to understand your comment. I am replying to the linked article about the repugnant conclusion. Housing, clothing and food are not the only things necessary for maximizing happiness. Even if every human being had these, there would still be differences of happiness.

DubiousPusher 6y ago
And space exploration solves happiness for a significant portion of the human population? If we're talking about minimizing the repugnant conclusion we're generally talking about resources and how they're distributed.
- keiferski 6y ago
  Well, because space travel would enable more resource acquisition and more humans to then use those resources productively to be happy. If we limit ourselves to Earth, we quickly run out. Basically the old argument about expanding the size of the pie vs. fighting over the current one.
  - DubiousPusher 6y ago
    Let's be real though. There are enough resources now. There is really no reason to believe that if the resources of another world fell under Earth's control that those resources would be used to enrich more people than would be exploited to extract them. And in a situation where these new resources would be behind the most significant barrier to entry in human history, they would almost certainly be controlled by the wealthy. That's why I'm saying that at this point, it's not about how much, it's about us making a positive choice to orient society so that the resources we do have are used to enrich as many human lives as possible. Without that, you're just creating even more wealth for the elite.
    - keiferski 6y ago
      I don't think this is true or likely at all. Space is pretty much infinite and while it may take a few hundred years (or even a thousand) for personal space travel to be possible, that's nothing on a longer timeline.