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> I look forward to people figuring out how to create a sustainable biosphere out of raw materials when we can't figure out how to keep a pre-existing rich one
by JohnMakin 2y ago
> I look forward to people figuring out how to create a sustainable biosphere out of raw materials when we can't figure out how to keep a pre-existing rich one healthy.
This is what I always raise when people start fantasizing breathlessly about mars colonization. Even if we possessed the technology to terraform a planet like mars in a way that could sustain human life long term, the presumable incentives to doing so (escaping a decreasingly habitable earth) don't make sense, because we could then just use that technology to terraform our own environment.
None of it makes sense because it's fantasy used to raise money.
- DarmokJalad1701 2y ago> the presumable incentives to doing so (escaping a decreasingly habitable earth) Is that the only incentive? Is that one that is officially claimed as the reasoning for any of the current such endeavors?
- quantified 2y agoIt's been shared by some number of people, perhaps not by these few who are actually in a position to influence the effort. But I think this sort of counts: > "Why are we doing this?" Musk said at the company's February 2022 Starship progress update. "I think this is an incredibly important thing for the future of life itself ... there's always some chance that something could go wrong on Earth. Dinosaurs are not around anymore!" [https://www.inverse.com/innovation/spacex-mars-city-codex https://www.inverse.com/innovation/spacex-mars-city-codex]
- DarmokJalad1701 2y agoI believe he is talking about black swan event like an asteroid impact. Not the current problems with climate change. It's more about there being another branch of humanity that's thriving than for people to "escape".