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He is obsessed with going to an inhospitable desert planet that could never support human life without substantial depletion of natural resources here on Earth.
by iamleppert 2y ago
He is obsessed with going to an inhospitable desert planet that could never support human life without substantial depletion of natural resources here on Earth. Just to send supplies necessary for human life to Mars would extract enormous environmental, financial costs here on Earth.
Instead of this obsession about Mars, what could be called an empty Minecraft world, why don't we work on our own environment here on Earth, first? There's no logical argument I've seen that going to Mars would somehow help diversify humanity's risk here on Earth. In fact, it's rather the opposite -- every time we launch a giant rocket, huge environmental tolls are taken. And those are real costs, born today. We have a finite amount of resources to burn before the planet is made uninhabitable.
- avaldez_ 2y agoI agree with you in broad terms but come on, all the care in the world for the environment won't stop external threats. Ask the dinosaurs. Sure the resources can be used to mitigate those threats like NASA DART mission but it is nice to have a plan B just in case.
- archagon 2y agoIf humanity somehow succeeds in colonizing Mars, it will be through intense political and scientific collaboration, not a moonshot spearheaded by an egomaniac with a messiah complex.
- Zigurd 2y ago"Space colony" is a misnomer. Nothing of value to bring there or bring back. No indigenous population. No life at all. That's not how actual colonies work. A Mars base would be dependent on Earth very likely forever. If Earth blows up, the Martians die a few weeks or months later.
- tumsfestival 2y agoPlenty of problems to solve down here before we even start considering the idea of living in a dead rock that can't support life.
- Ekaros 2y agoI would say that pretty much anything can happen to earth and it will be more survivable to still live on this planet than any other stellar object or orbit at least in medium term. Say couple hundreds of years.
- dzhiurgis 2y agoMaybe a better call is to bark on frivolous shit here on earth first, like cosmetics that are valued far more than rockets...
- burnt-resistor 2y agoHe doesn't care about anyone except himself, and he's willing to sacrifice and humiliate everyone else to fit his warped, utopian, libertarian delusion.