Hawking: We must colonize Space...or Die.

[Sikander]

Originally posted by Richelieu
I choose death. I just can't fit space colonization in my schedule right now.

Don't you want to live in a tube and push buttons?

[Sir Og]

Preventing Earth threataning desasters from happeneing requires a lot less energy/knowledge than moving away from Earth and adapting to a different enviroment. Considering that the only inevitable destructive event is a few billion years away, we are not realy late yet with our preparations for interstellar travel.

I say we start massive teraforming projects on Earth now
This is a much better use of resources than traveling to another star/s.

[Sikander]

Originally posted by Sir Og
Preventing Earth threataning desasters from happeneing requires a lot less energy/knowledge than moving away from Earth and adapting to a different enviroment. Considering that the only inevitable destructive event is a few billion years away, we are not realy late yet with our preparations for interstellar travel.

I say we start massive teraforming projects on Earth now
This is a much better use of resources than traveling to another star/s.

[MRT144]

hawking was quoted as saying "beep boop beep beep boop"

[Richelieu]

Originally posted by Sikander
Don't you want to live in a tube and push buttons?

That takes up most of my days as it is.

[Geronimo]

Originally posted by Sir Og
Preventing Earth threataning desasters from happeneing requires a lot less energy/knowledge than moving away from Earth and adapting to a different enviroment. Considering that the only inevitable destructive event is a few billion years away, we are not realy late yet with our preparations for interstellar travel.

I say we start massive teraforming projects on Earth now
This is a much better use of resources than traveling to another star/s.

But there's more resources outside of the Earth in this solar system than can be found on the Earth. We just need more infrastructure upfront to exploit resources at those other locations. On Earth more infrastructure means a larger environmental footprint. Elsewhere in the solar system the absence of an existing ecosystem means the concept of environmental footprint doesn't really apply.

So if limited resources is being used as an argument against expanding into space it should probably be considered as a reason for expanding into space so long as you care about preserving long term biodiversity here on Earth.

[Lancer]

...and don't forget the big blast of energy from collapsing stars. Fry the planet and kill everybody. No warning and no defense except dumb luck or dispersion.

[Sava]

Originally posted by OzzyKP


Uhh... what do you think making money & fighting over land, ideology & religion is about?

Greed. Power. The desire to control.

At one time, conflict was about survival... perhaps when warring tribes raided each other for the necessities. War ceased to be about survival a very long time ago.

Again, when people learn to put aside their petty differences and realize we are all stuck on this planet together, then there will be unity and we will work together towards the goal of the long term survival of our species.

But then again, it's obvious that a lot of you are incapable, as most people are, of seeing the big picture. And sadly, that's the problem with the world today. Nobody cares about the big picture.

I think the only solution is education... but there seems to be a lot of people who are opposed to that, for one reason or another.

It seems so simple... telling people to not be dumbasses. But if it were only that simple, the world wouldn't be so ****ed up.

Although, the real shame is, I think the point is going to be lost on a lot of you.

It's too bad genius is ignored. In the end, the very survival of our species could depend on listening to people like Hawking.

But nevermind, carry on with your usual nonsensical posting and such.

I'll just engage in my usual asshattery because trying to educate you people is really quite pointless.

[Sandman]

Originally posted by Geronimo
But there's more resources outside of the Earth in this solar system than can be found on the Earth. We just need more infrastructure upfront to exploit resources at those other locations. On Earth more infrastructure means a larger environmental footprint. Elsewhere in the solar system the absence of an existing ecosystem means the concept of environmental footprint doesn't really apply.

There are more resources in the oceans, as well. Yet there is no serious effort to colonise the seas. Oil rigs are about as close as it gets, and they're dreadful places which no-one seriously considers as an alternative to land-based life.

[Lorizael]

Hey, what about this place!

[Geronimo]

Originally posted by Sandman


There are more resources in the oceans, as well. Yet there is no serious effort to colonise the seas. Oil rigs are about as close as it gets, and they're dreadful places which no-one seriously considers as an alternative to land-based life.

The oceans have an enormous and diverse and very poorly understood ecosystem. Your proposal to exploit ocean resources as an alternative to space resource exploitation completely misses the point that exploiting space resources has effectively no environmental footprint associated with it.

Furthermore, the reason oil rigs are dreadful places nobody would consider living on is because they aren't designed to be inviting places. Compare living on an oil rig to living on a house boat or a humongous private yacht. I would think rather a lot of people would enjoy living on the humongous private yacht and yet you use oil rigs as an example of how living on dry land here on earth is the only palatable option for humans.

[Sandman]

A houseboat is essentially an extension of the land; it's hooked up to the land based systems. A private yacht is quite useless for resource extraction, and is utterly dependent on the land.

Now, it's easy to imagine an oil rig which is designed to be inviting - a place to raise families, etc. Has such a place ever been built? Somehow I doubt it.

And really, who in their right mind would want to live on a tarted-up asteroid simply for 'ecological' reasons? It's like that arcology thread a while ago - why live in such an awful place?

[Lorizael]

I'm sure the first people doing anything other than exploration in asteroids will be working there. No one wants to live in a mine, but we still have miners.

[Arcite]

Originally posted by Lorizael
I'm sure the first people doing anything other than exploration in asteroids will be working there. No one wants to live in a mine, but we still have miners.

Well, that is until we have robot miners

[Geronimo]

Originally posted by Sandman
A houseboat is essentially an extension of the land; it's hooked up to the land based systems. A private yacht is quite useless for resource extraction, and is utterly dependent on the land.

Now, it's easy to imagine an oil rig which is designed to be inviting - a place to raise families, etc. Has such a place ever been built? Somehow I doubt it.

And really, who in their right mind would want to live on a tarted-up asteroid simply for 'ecological' reasons? It's like that arcology thread a while ago - why live in such an awful place?

I dunno, I suppose I would live in the not awful place instead. Such as a ring space station with lots of green a spectacular view and gravity. resource extraction would be nearby and more like the oil rig. You don't have to live at work.

Would the earth be an inviting place to live if the current mass extinction never ends? If we go luddite to aim for a tiny ecological footprint the mass extinction will slow but still continue at an unacceptable rate. Our desire to be safe from predators and to feed ourselves using agricultural guarentees that even an extremely restrained lifestyle will continue to place unprecendented indefinate strain on the Earths ecosystems. And anyway if we have to sacrifice our lifestyle to live on the earth then what the hell is so inviting about living there?

We can either confine humanity largely to the earth and have it become a much less inviting place and cause the extinction of millions of irreplacable species and lose the birthright of our ancestral ecosystem forever, or we move elsewhere so we won't be the bull in Earth's china shop and then at least the Earth would still be a nice place to visit.