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All this plans assume a human behaviour model that has been prooven to regularly fail on earth. Yes, there are spartan places on earth(monasteries, poor regions

All this plans assume a human behaviour model that has been prooven to regularly fail on earth. Yes, there are spartan places on earth(monasteries, poor regions), but even they usually depend via "lifelines" on a continuous surplus on resources from some far away bristling nexus (city) or are permanently stuck in cycles of strife. A colony on mars, would break down with the first generations kids reaching maturity and realizing the remote prison their parents choose is for life. In my mind, the whole colonize mars plan, is nothing but a elites escapism, who refuses to deal with the problems the species causes on earth and the necessary political change that entails. Its in that, very human, not very different from a neanderthal, who wants to escape his tribe, to find new mammoths beyond the horizon. But easy mammoth is extinct now and all there is to do, is to sit on electrically charged rocks and meditate for enlightenment.

fractionalhare 6y ago
I sincerely doubt there are many elites seriously considering colonies on Mars. I'm sure they're happy to push their personal brand using the space nostalgic idealism, though.
simonh 6y ago
>...who refuses to deal with the problems the species causes on earth The same person advocating most strongly for colonising Mars is, er, also responsible for bootstrapping solar, battery and EV technology, and having a good go at working on traffic congestion specifically to preserve the environment on Earth. In fact that was his first passion, and his interest in Mars originated from an attempt to raise awareness of environmental issues here. He's devoting huge resources, time and energy to solve Earthside problems. So I really don't see where you got this idea that colonising Mars is about abandoning Earth, what did you base that on?
- sofixa 6y ago
  > The same person advocating most strongly for colonising Mars is, er, also responsible for bootstrapping solar, battery and EV technology, and having a good go at working on traffic congestion specifically to preserve the environment on Earth. Is he? To an extent, but he's also extremely anti-better solutions that didn't originate with one of his companies. He thinks that digging thousands of tunnels for a vehicle per person is better for congestion than digging a significantly smaller amount of tunnels for rapid mass transit, which would cost less and is drastically better for the planet than everybody rolling around in a car, even a Tesla car. Solar has been a steadily growing thing before Tesla was, so i'm not sure you can credit him with anything there.
  - simonh 6y ago
    Hyper loop is literally a mass transit system. Ok, probably not all his ideas will pan out and ok maybe you prefer other solutions, but ‘refusing to deal with’ those problems? Really?
alexvoda 6y ago
Colonies will happen once mining and manufacturing happen because people will follow the money. Same as colonising on earth.

fractionalhare 6y ago

I sincerely doubt there are many elites seriously considering colonies on Mars. I'm sure they're happy to push their personal brand using the space nostalgic idealism, though.

simonh 6y ago

>...who refuses to deal with the problems the species causes on earth The same person advocating most strongly for colonising Mars is, er, also responsible for bootstrapping solar, battery and EV technology, and having a good go at working on traffic congestion specifically to preserve the environment on Earth. In fact that was his first passion, and his interest in Mars originated from an attempt to raise awareness of environmental issues here. He's devoting huge resources, time and energy to solve Earthside problems. So I really don't see where you got this idea that colonising Mars is about abandoning Earth, what did you base that on?

sofixa 6y ago
> The same person advocating most strongly for colonising Mars is, er, also responsible for bootstrapping solar, battery and EV technology, and having a good go at working on traffic congestion specifically to preserve the environment on Earth. Is he? To an extent, but he's also extremely anti-better solutions that didn't originate with one of his companies. He thinks that digging thousands of tunnels for a vehicle per person is better for congestion than digging a significantly smaller amount of tunnels for rapid mass transit, which would cost less and is drastically better for the planet than everybody rolling around in a car, even a Tesla car. Solar has been a steadily growing thing before Tesla was, so i'm not sure you can credit him with anything there.
- simonh 6y ago
  Hyper loop is literally a mass transit system. Ok, probably not all his ideas will pan out and ok maybe you prefer other solutions, but ‘refusing to deal with’ those problems? Really?

alexvoda 6y ago

Colonies will happen once mining and manufacturing happen because people will follow the money. Same as colonising on earth.