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I couldn’t agree more regarding misanthropy. I would like to note though that if we start mining and settling space, our growth would in fact be essentially un
by FredPret 6y ago
I couldn’t agree more regarding misanthropy.
I would like to note though that if we start mining and settling space, our growth would in fact be essentially unbounded.
Combined with the fact that some types of stars are expected to continue radiating energy for trillions of years...
- pfarrell 6y agoThis discussion reminds me of Isaac Asimov's favorite story, The Last Question https://www.multivax.com/last_question.html https://www.multivax.com/last_question.html
- falcor84 6y agoSorry to nitpick, but is it your favorite story of Asimov's or has he actually said it was his own favorite?
- tomcam 6y agoIt was Asimov's favorite
- pfarrell 6y agoI guess to be more precise, it was Asimov’s favorite story among those that he had written. https://www.openculture.com/2015/06/isaac-asimovs-favorite-story-the-last-question-read-by-isaac-asimov.html https://www.openculture.com/2015/06/isaac-asimovs-favorite-s...
- wildmanx 6y agoThe sad part is that many of us have to constantly fight against those of "us" who are actively working against those improvements. It's easy to take an outside look and say "well, see, humankind fixed it", but the personal energy and misery that goes into fighting for those fixes is enormous. I wouldn't call it "misanthropy".
- 7e 6y agoA substantial amount of Earth's resources would need to be eviscerated to accomplish that goal, the the space colonies are extremely likely to fail anyway, in the end.
- FredPret 6y agoYou’re right, fuck it, let’s just all die without trying instead
- Robotbeat 6y agoYour sarcastic point is kind of valid, IMHO. Humans establishing self-sufficient communities beyond Earth would prove that humans have the capability to thrive sustainably on Earth. It would silence forever any technological objections to the possibility of human sustainability on Earth. And a firm idea that humans can never establish self-sustaining communities in space is not that far from the idea that we probably cannot do so on Earth, either. It really is not a huge step from pessimism about human future (ie in space) to nihilism about sustainability on Earth, and I do wish people would acknowledge this more: people enthusiastic about permanent settlements in space are, in fact, more certain about the possibility of sustainable thriving on Earth than the space-pessimists are.
- FredPret 6y agoI don’t think there’s anything more important than being an outward-looking, striving species. Once we get depressed and nihilistic and give up, the universe will be forever deprived of the colour and drama human civilization can add to all those bare rocks up there. I never considered that the implication is we could live here sustainably, but you’re right.
- deleted 6y ago[deleted]
- ganafagol 6y agoStriving for what though? These discussions tend to be heavy on Asimov-inspired scifi-think and weak on just taking a walk in a forest on a nice sunny day in late spring. All this talk about having to colonize space is just rubbish, compared to the wonders of nature that would be worth preserving. But the audience here is strongly biased. If most of your day is spent in front of a computer and reading scifi novels in the evening, then that's where the discussion moves.