- 14 Dec 2017 03:30
#14870811
It is said that generals tend to fight the previous war instead of the war that's actually happening, and I think the same thing is true for the exploration of space. We are unconsciously trying to repeat the great voyages of exploration which opened up the world to European colonisation and conquest back in the 16th and 17th centuries, regardless of whether or not is is appropriate to do so in the current circumstances. Because the ships of the 16th and 17th centuries were crewed by human beings, we pack our spacecraft with human beings. Because the captains of those expeditions would plant their nation's flag on the newly discovered lands, we plant an American flag or a Soviet flag or a Chinese flag in the dust of the Moon. Considered objectively, it's idiotic. It is incredibly wasteful and utterly pointless. Why are we doing this? Why are we even thinking of doing this? Mars is not the Earth; it will never be habitable for human beings. We haven't even colonised Antarctica, and we think we can colonise Mars? Even the Moon is unfit for human habitation. Only machine intelligences (assuming we manage to create them) will be able to explore and operate in space - they will have the long lifespans and the robustness to survive the huge time spans required for interstellar travel and the extreme physical harshness of space. Our biology ties us to the Earth, and we need to accept this fact.
Manned space missions are stupid and we should feel stupid for even considering paying hundreds of billions to do them when a tenth of that will grow private space industry and advance scientific programs.
It is said that generals tend to fight the previous war instead of the war that's actually happening, and I think the same thing is true for the exploration of space. We are unconsciously trying to repeat the great voyages of exploration which opened up the world to European colonisation and conquest back in the 16th and 17th centuries, regardless of whether or not is is appropriate to do so in the current circumstances. Because the ships of the 16th and 17th centuries were crewed by human beings, we pack our spacecraft with human beings. Because the captains of those expeditions would plant their nation's flag on the newly discovered lands, we plant an American flag or a Soviet flag or a Chinese flag in the dust of the Moon. Considered objectively, it's idiotic. It is incredibly wasteful and utterly pointless. Why are we doing this? Why are we even thinking of doing this? Mars is not the Earth; it will never be habitable for human beings. We haven't even colonised Antarctica, and we think we can colonise Mars? Even the Moon is unfit for human habitation. Only machine intelligences (assuming we manage to create them) will be able to explore and operate in space - they will have the long lifespans and the robustness to survive the huge time spans required for interstellar travel and the extreme physical harshness of space. Our biology ties us to the Earth, and we need to accept this fact.
"Politics is the art of looking for trouble, finding it everywhere, diagnosing it incorrectly and applying the wrong remedies." - Marx (Groucho)