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We do things that don’t make sense all the time. The idea that our lives and plans should be dominated entirely by rational decisions only itself makes sense if
by barnabee 2y ago
We do things that don’t make sense all the time. The idea that our lives and plans should be dominated entirely by rational decisions only itself makes sense if you’re willing to expand rational to include the likes of “because it’s there” and “because I felt like it”.
That said, given the unknowns and uncertainties, I believe it’s rational to devote some small amount of our resources to trying to achieve multiple sustainable off-earth communities, including in orbit, on the Moon, and yes, on Mars.
- Uehreka 2y agoI think GP is referring to people like Elon Musk, who have a personal brand built around the idea that they’re “rational people who make data-driven decisions based on logic” and yet twist themselves into fascinating rhetorical shapes trying to argue that human colonization of Mars is possible, necessary and also imminent. I think they do this because they recognize that “some small amount of our resources” won’t actually be enough to do anything on Mars in the coming century, and they want to go to Mars in their lifetime.