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Just because you think that humans aren’t special doesn’t mean that you should commit suicide, though. I’m personally not against humans reaching for the stars

Just because you think that humans aren’t special doesn’t mean that you should commit suicide, though. I’m personally not against humans reaching for the stars, heck I think we should do everything we can to succeed in that, but for the purposes of acquiring knowledge and not first and foremost self-preservation. I mean, if we’re disagreeing with this comment because we think we are special and have the moral obligation to survive, there’s a ton of work that we need to and can do here on Earth before trying to settle in another planet, right? If we can think of terraforming Mars, heck we should be able to stop all kinds of pollution right now, but that’s not even the kind of rhetoric that I’m seeing here in HN.

slibhb 5y ago
> Just because you think that humans aren’t special doesn’t mean that you should commit suicide, though. No but it implies there's nothing wrong with suicide. > If we can think of terraforming Mars, heck we should be able to stop all kinds of pollution right now, but that’s not even the kind of rhetoric that I’m seeing here in HN. Really? I see it all over HN. Lots of posters are very concerned about global warming and pollution and those posts are often highly upvoted. But I don't think we have to choose between colonizing Mars and treating the Earth better. We can do both. (Well I'm not optimistic about the Mars colony but I certainly think we should try).
- rTX5CMRXIfFG 5y ago
  Acknowledging the fact that everything perishes, including humans, because we are not special, does not imply that there is nothing wrong with suicide (though I’d like to see you successfully argue that point—but that’s a separate discussion). You’re making a huge leap here. I mean, sure, we can do both, but I do maintain that since, right now, the only success that we can guarantee from exploring space with our current tools is to gather knowledge, anybody who genuinely believes and is committed to the idea that we have a moral obligation to prolong the life of our species should be trying to save Earth right now.
  - slibhb 5y ago
    > Acknowledging the fact that everything perishes, including humans, because we are not special, does not imply that there is nothing wrong with suicide Suicide remark aside, my overall argument was that "human life has no special value" is a pose. People value human life in a special way, including their own, for whatever reason, rational or not, and we know this by observing human behavior, including our own. > I mean, sure, we can do both, but I do maintain that since, right now, the only success that we can guarantee from exploring space with our current tools is to gather knowledge, anybody who genuinely believes and is committed to the idea that we have a moral obligation to prolong the life of our species should be trying to save Earth right now. Not only can we do both but we are. I'm not a Musk fanboy but I am glad that battery tech, solar, electric cars, and rockets are all being built. Also, due to politics, fixing problems on Earth is in some sense a harder problem than colonizing Mars. Whether or not a Mars colony survives, if we have the technology to try it, we can give it the old college try. Meanwhile, something as simple as a carbon tax is politically impossible.
- deleted 5y ago
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slibhb 5y ago

> Just because you think that humans aren’t special doesn’t mean that you should commit suicide, though. No but it implies there's nothing wrong with suicide. > If we can think of terraforming Mars, heck we should be able to stop all kinds of pollution right now, but that’s not even the kind of rhetoric that I’m seeing here in HN. Really? I see it all over HN. Lots of posters are very concerned about global warming and pollution and those posts are often highly upvoted. But I don't think we have to choose between colonizing Mars and treating the Earth better. We can do both. (Well I'm not optimistic about the Mars colony but I certainly think we should try).

rTX5CMRXIfFG 5y ago
Acknowledging the fact that everything perishes, including humans, because we are not special, does not imply that there is nothing wrong with suicide (though I’d like to see you successfully argue that point—but that’s a separate discussion). You’re making a huge leap here. I mean, sure, we can do both, but I do maintain that since, right now, the only success that we can guarantee from exploring space with our current tools is to gather knowledge, anybody who genuinely believes and is committed to the idea that we have a moral obligation to prolong the life of our species should be trying to save Earth right now.
- slibhb 5y ago
  > Acknowledging the fact that everything perishes, including humans, because we are not special, does not imply that there is nothing wrong with suicide Suicide remark aside, my overall argument was that "human life has no special value" is a pose. People value human life in a special way, including their own, for whatever reason, rational or not, and we know this by observing human behavior, including our own. > I mean, sure, we can do both, but I do maintain that since, right now, the only success that we can guarantee from exploring space with our current tools is to gather knowledge, anybody who genuinely believes and is committed to the idea that we have a moral obligation to prolong the life of our species should be trying to save Earth right now. Not only can we do both but we are. I'm not a Musk fanboy but I am glad that battery tech, solar, electric cars, and rockets are all being built. Also, due to politics, fixing problems on Earth is in some sense a harder problem than colonizing Mars. Whether or not a Mars colony survives, if we have the technology to try it, we can give it the old college try. Meanwhile, something as simple as a carbon tax is politically impossible.
deleted 5y ago
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