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My issue with it is that it distracts us from real problems. Obsession with Musk, NASA, and Mars keeps people's imaginations fixated on space instead of stuff t
by serverholic 4y ago
My issue with it is that it distracts us from real problems. Obsession with Musk, NASA, and Mars keeps people's imaginations fixated on space instead of stuff that would really improve people's lives.
Instead of encouraging people to imagine how good life could be HERE, we are focusing people's imaginations on space where corporate profits aren't threatened.
In the article, the author quotes NASA on why we should go to mars and clearly it's an answer designed to tickle people's imaginations. Why aren't we hearing similar speeches about automating food production for example? Why can't we spend a trillion dollars on a mission to do THAT?
- recursive 4y agoAdvancing technology for space exploration purposes has shown to overlap significantly with "practical" applications.
- serverholic 4y agoI think that’s going to be true of any large-scale engineering problem that pushes boundaries.
- TchoBeer 4y agoThen we can invest in practical applications instead of spaceflight, which is ancillary.
- wilg 4y agoWe can and should spend money on other exciting and useful problems!
- chii 4y ago> Why can't we spend a trillion dollars on a mission to do THAT? because it's mostly a solved problem. It isn't really engineering, but economics that stops this from being a reality. And to the contrary, i do think food production automation is being researched (by private entities, rather than gov't organizations) and slowly will become more common. You just don't hear about it, because it doesn't sound as exciting as space exploration.
- serverholic 4y agoIn what way is automated food production a solved problem? Last I checked we still need plenty of humans to grow food.
- m4rtink 4y agoIn absolute numbers maybe - in relative numbers we have improved immensely from all people spending most of their time gathering food to survive to a couple percent of the population herding machines that make food for the rest.
- serverholic 4y agoGreat then we should be able to provide food for everyone who needs it right? In that case, we can pick another large engineering project to tackle. How about 3D printers for houses so that we can shelter people too?
- m4rtink 4y agoWe have been since at least the 19th century. Why we don't is apparently a sociological problem that we have not been able to tackle since...
- chii 4y ago> Great then we should be able to provide food for everyone who needs it right? as long as those people provide 'stuff' for other people in exchange. That has been the economic model that works.
- serverholic 4y agoThat doesn’t sound automated then, which was my point. I’m talking about bringing the cost of basic food items to near zero so people don’t have to exchange for it. Wouldn’t that be a great “mission” for a large-scale NASA-like project?