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The theory of spreading Life Beyond Earth has obstacles that I've never seen it adequately approach. It suffers from worldwide popularized optimism to which it

The theory of spreading Life Beyond Earth has obstacles that I've never seen it adequately approach. It suffers from worldwide popularized optimism to which it early succumbs without a proper fight. That it doesn't have to, much like other nationalistic fictions, indicates its low possibility. It is a theory that claims legitimacy without ever stepping into the ring. Which is the proper positioning for meatbags that can't take the pummeling of the infinite gorilla of space. Or more precisely, who can't physically survive the trauma of being separated from their Mother(Earth). People get all of the space travel that they require from the next Chris Pine Star Trek film. That's psychologically enough for the world. The gap between now and survivable manned travel to Mars is so large that no one can see the opposite shore. An educated wager might be that this is because it doesn't exist. But again, one has to abandon addiction to popular optimism to start down the road of analyzing why. Start with the simple factor of our circadian rhythm that is inseparably tied to the Earth's clock that is uniquely a product of the relationship of this specific Earth to our specific Sun. Don't include how the Earth's gravity or magnetic field may play parts, as that's too advanced as of yet. Before we would get to lethal space radiation, we have to figure out how to survive even in otherwise perfectly safe synthetic conditions. It's unclear to the point that we haven't started the discussion. I want to meet the man who is going to have the vaccine, ahead of time and before a truly apocalyptic pandemic, for space infections picked up from space-victims of space-colonialism by the eternal oppressors of Earth (hard to accomplish that much oppression in infinite space but ok) . The Universe has plenty to say about both hat sizes and sex.

realjhol 4y ago
It's all just Whig History. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whig_history https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whig_history
- javajosh 4y ago
  Any statement that begins with "It's all just..." is false before it ends. Why are you on this thread? Is Reddit down?
  - realjhol 4y ago
    It is whig history, though. It's really not complicated
javajosh 4y ago
>It suffers from worldwide popularized optimism Yes, that is certainly true. It bothers me that I can't explain why Asimov, for example, didn't refrain from silly FTL fantasy when he knew better, even then. I pity the science-optimists who claim victory and hope with every advance, but then ignore the constraints who's reality undergird every advance (esp relativity, in this case). >That's psychologically enough for the world The universe, or God if you prefer, has thrown down the gauntlets and left us in a default dead state. This is urgent on a long time scale. Fantasy calling itself "science fiction" does damage to our collective physical intuitions, and our intuitions about the future. (A fact which has not gone unnoticed by those with the means to fund such entertainments). But in truth I don't care about what the world wants, I care about keeping it alive long enough to become multi-system. Then, sure, entertain yourself to death if you want. It's only one world, at that point. The last few years have greatly revised (downward) my estimate of modern human knowledge of science, and reality in general. Until then, yeah, if NASA were to come out strongly in favor of protecting our collective scientific minds by requiring virtually all "science fiction" to be relabeled "fantasy", I'd be for it. Why do we assume that children must be protected from sexual imagery but warping their physical intuition is fine?? >The Universe has plenty to say about both hat sizes and sex. Not at the scale I'm talking about. The nihilistic, self-amusing jokes of the cynic who lies to himself and says he doesn't care, that he is courageously indifferent, show fear. Total, abject fear.
- throwaway17_17 4y ago
  Not sure if you were looking for response to your proposals, but… I think one of the real problems in implementing this sort of policy, i.e. ensuring that, as a society, individuals (particularly the young) are taught correctly about physical reality is that from a western mindset any measures taken will appear authoritarian. The history of ‘western’ thought, in the tradition of the enlightenment and what followed, is inherently tied to Judeo-Christian ethics and morals. Further, there is a huge pattern of individualism that runs through the core of that same philosophical lineage. It is this basis that allows for the dual positions you allude to in your comment. Traditional ‘western’ thought would enforce the rightness of the society impinging on an individual when it is motivated by Judie-Christian (or at least some interpretation thereof) ideals/morals/precepts. Whereas, impinging on an individual with ‘mere’ facts about the physical world is intolerable because the physical world is clearly an unholy/flawed/unknowable place that only exists to further the goals of a deity in being more deific. All that to say, unfortunately, given the conditioning of culture that has occurred for the last 500 years in the ‘west’ it seems unlikely to me that any societal commitment to correct physical intuition (and the subsequent marking of non-real things as non-realistic/fantasy/imaginary) will never happen. I honk this also answers the question of why protect children from sexual content, but not from unrealistic scifi. To force those labels would be argued to be authoritarian, and it would probably be supported with slippery slope arguments pointing toward the ‘authority’s’ eventual labeling of religious content as well.

realjhol 4y ago

It's all just Whig History. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whig_history https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whig_history

javajosh 4y ago
Any statement that begins with "It's all just..." is false before it ends. Why are you on this thread? Is Reddit down?
- realjhol 4y ago
  It is whig history, though. It's really not complicated

javajosh 4y ago

>It suffers from worldwide popularized optimism Yes, that is certainly true. It bothers me that I can't explain why Asimov, for example, didn't refrain from silly FTL fantasy when he knew better, even then. I pity the science-optimists who claim victory and hope with every advance, but then ignore the constraints who's reality undergird every advance (esp relativity, in this case). >That's psychologically enough for the world The universe, or God if you prefer, has thrown down the gauntlets and left us in a default dead state. This is urgent on a long time scale. Fantasy calling itself "science fiction" does damage to our collective physical intuitions, and our intuitions about the future. (A fact which has not gone unnoticed by those with the means to fund such entertainments). But in truth I don't care about what the world wants, I care about keeping it alive long enough to become multi-system. Then, sure, entertain yourself to death if you want. It's only one world, at that point. The last few years have greatly revised (downward) my estimate of modern human knowledge of science, and reality in general. Until then, yeah, if NASA were to come out strongly in favor of protecting our collective scientific minds by requiring virtually all "science fiction" to be relabeled "fantasy", I'd be for it. Why do we assume that children must be protected from sexual imagery but warping their physical intuition is fine?? >The Universe has plenty to say about both hat sizes and sex. Not at the scale I'm talking about. The nihilistic, self-amusing jokes of the cynic who lies to himself and says he doesn't care, that he is courageously indifferent, show fear. Total, abject fear.

throwaway17_17 4y ago
Not sure if you were looking for response to your proposals, but… I think one of the real problems in implementing this sort of policy, i.e. ensuring that, as a society, individuals (particularly the young) are taught correctly about physical reality is that from a western mindset any measures taken will appear authoritarian. The history of ‘western’ thought, in the tradition of the enlightenment and what followed, is inherently tied to Judeo-Christian ethics and morals. Further, there is a huge pattern of individualism that runs through the core of that same philosophical lineage. It is this basis that allows for the dual positions you allude to in your comment. Traditional ‘western’ thought would enforce the rightness of the society impinging on an individual when it is motivated by Judie-Christian (or at least some interpretation thereof) ideals/morals/precepts. Whereas, impinging on an individual with ‘mere’ facts about the physical world is intolerable because the physical world is clearly an unholy/flawed/unknowable place that only exists to further the goals of a deity in being more deific. All that to say, unfortunately, given the conditioning of culture that has occurred for the last 500 years in the ‘west’ it seems unlikely to me that any societal commitment to correct physical intuition (and the subsequent marking of non-real things as non-realistic/fantasy/imaginary) will never happen. I honk this also answers the question of why protect children from sexual content, but not from unrealistic scifi. To force those labels would be argued to be authoritarian, and it would probably be supported with slippery slope arguments pointing toward the ‘authority’s’ eventual labeling of religious content as well.