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Yes, it's possible we'll become spacefaring someday, but right now today, things don't look so good. Any one of a dozen sociopaths around the world could wipe

Yes, it's possible we'll become spacefaring someday, but right now today, things don't look so good. Any one of a dozen sociopaths around the world could wipe out every living human in a couple hours by setting off a global nuclear war. It could be done on a whim; it could happen as a result of a stroke; it could be a bad ham sandwich that went down wrong. We're in the age of global instant destruction right now today. Sustainable spacefaring is decades away at best, probably still centuries. The odds don't really look so good. The Fermi Paradox is a pretty discouraging data point on the lifetime of technological societies, too.

sage_joch 13y ago
I have thought about the unsettling possibility that we are presently navigating The Great Filter. It may ultimately be a question of whether our philosophy can keep pace with our technology (and right now it is quickly falling behind). But things have looked bleak in the past, and we have found a way to overcome them. The Fermi Paradox doesn't necessarily imply spacefaring civilizations are as rare as they appear to be. It's possible that the vast majority of spacefaring species became spacefaring because they found a way to keep their philosophical understanding on par with their technological understanding. And given that possibility, it might not be a huge leap to assume a Prime Directive-like policy is at play. (There are a number of ways to explain the Fermi Paradox, but this is probably the one I most subscribe to.)
angersock 13y ago
I'm worried less about the malice of a dozen psychopaths than the hungry and unwashed billions, the consumerist millions, and the power-hungry tens of thousands. Any system of government which must listen to its citizens is uniquely unsuited to becoming a spacefaring nation.
- pure_narcotic 13y ago
  And of these, which are you?
  - angersock 13y ago
    Different category--bootstrapped maker.

sage_joch 13y ago

I have thought about the unsettling possibility that we are presently navigating The Great Filter. It may ultimately be a question of whether our philosophy can keep pace with our technology (and right now it is quickly falling behind). But things have looked bleak in the past, and we have found a way to overcome them. The Fermi Paradox doesn't necessarily imply spacefaring civilizations are as rare as they appear to be. It's possible that the vast majority of spacefaring species became spacefaring because they found a way to keep their philosophical understanding on par with their technological understanding. And given that possibility, it might not be a huge leap to assume a Prime Directive-like policy is at play. (There are a number of ways to explain the Fermi Paradox, but this is probably the one I most subscribe to.)

angersock 13y ago

I'm worried less about the malice of a dozen psychopaths than the hungry and unwashed billions, the consumerist millions, and the power-hungry tens of thousands. Any system of government which must listen to its citizens is uniquely unsuited to becoming a spacefaring nation.

pure_narcotic 13y ago
And of these, which are you?
- angersock 13y ago
  Different category--bootstrapped maker.