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The problem with frontiers is that one culture’s “frontier” is another culture’s homeland. Look what happens to native populations every time they encounter a
by ModernMech 5y ago
The problem with frontiers is that one culture’s “frontier” is another culture’s homeland. Look what happens to native populations every time they encounter a more technologically advanced civilization.
My worry about a lawless infinite frontier is that it will encourage lawless exponential exploitation. What happens when one of these spacefaring humanoids innovates a planet-eating or sun-eating machine. Just a vessel that consumes an entire planet. Or a death star type weapon?
Now you have a civilization of innovating planet eating humans roaming and multiplying throughout the universe like a virus. Does life exist on the planets they eat? Who knows or cares? Who would stop them if it did? I wouldn’t leave it past the human mind to implement this.
- api 5y agoThere are no guarantees of course, but I am fond of saying “it’s called space for a reason.” There is so damn much of it. Go find one of those “solar system to scale” models. Anyone with interstellar capability could definitely go somewhere else. That doesn’t guarantee they won’t be assholes but it means it’s unlikely that future spacefaring intelligences will be pushed into an aggressive position by scarcity of land or resources. They will at least have the option of just going elsewhere. Personally I think large scale space conflict for rational reasons is unlikely both because of how costly it could be (any spacefaring being has ludicrously overpowered WMDs) and the optionality. So if it does happen I would predict it occurring for irrational reasons. That happens of course.