Things I Take For Granted: Part I

[John Dule]

I've recently been thinking introspectively with regards to certain assumptions I have about humans, humanity, and the future. These are assumptions that I have had for as long as I can remember, and it always alarms me when I encounter people who disagree with them because I take it for granted that these are self-evident truths. If anyone is interested in this type of poll, I might post another couple of these. No nuance allowed-- either agree or disagree.

Ever since I was a kid, I have assumed that every sane, intelligent, hardworking person on Earth is at least partially committed to ensuring that someday their descendants will live on Mars, Europa, and undiscovered planets far beyond our solar system. I would reflexively view anyone who disagrees with this proposition with suspicion-- but I'm curious to see what Atlas thinks.

Posting this on the R&P board because one's answer to this question is inherently philosophical.

[John Dule]

Disagree

I have assumed that every sane, intelligent, hardworking person on Earth is at least partially committed to ensuring that someday their descendants will live on Mars, Europa, and undiscovered planets far beyond our solar system.

Surprised you believe anyone on this web site will have descendants

I said "sane, intelligent, and hardworking." That eliminates 90% of Atlas right off the bat.

[John Dule]

Imagine disagreeing with this.

[John Dule]

I have to say I find it genuinely astonishing that almost half of this forum seems to think that humanity's future is limited to this planet.

1. The idea that we'll create a nuclear holocaust or ecological catastrophe of sufficient severity to wipe out all human life (or at a minimum, all meaningful human knowledge) is just not realistic. Even in the darkest prognostications of climate change, extinction is not on the table. Barring some kind of AI nanobots that turn us all into paperclips or whatever, human populations are too widespread-- and repositories of human knowledge are too securely maintained-- for this to be plausible.

2. The idea that the trash orbiting our planet will somehow keep us grounded to the Earth is absurd. When we reach the point-- technologically speaking-- where we are able to establish regular flights and missions to the Moon and other planets, we will almost certainly be capable of developing methods for clearing paths through debris fields, shielding ships, or tracking/eliminating space refuse.

3. Faster-than-light travel is probably not possible, but near-light travel probably is. It is wholly plausible that we will develop the ability to reach other solar systems within the span of an individual's lifetime (especially given that these individuals will surely be living longer than us). Another option is some type of stasis, which has been explored in dozens of sci-fi films dating back to the 50s. There is also the possibility of wormhole travel-- while I find this implausible, it is no more unthinkable to me than an iPhone would likely be to a Medieval peasant. Anyway, the point is that there are multiple potential ways for us to reach outside our solar system, none of which pose any more of an obstacle to the indomitable human spirit of adventure than the Rocky Mountains posed for the pioneers or the Atlantic Ocean posed for the conquistadors.

4. The innovation gap left behind by NASA defunding is already being filled by private (if subsidized) interests. This is how every new technology works: The super-wealthy adopt its early iterations as a status symbol, and their investments fund R&D that makes the product more accessible for the lower classes. We are already seeing this historical pattern replicate itself with spaceflight-- if you really think Jeff Bezos is humanity's final say in space exploration, you are an unbelievable pessimist.



Nonetheless, these poll results do help me to contextualize some of the political opinions I often see being expressed on this forum (and elsewhere). If you seriously think the Earth itself is humanity's final frontier, you are probably predisposed to wring your hands about billionaire spaceflights and minor ecological problems. Just know that to the rest of us, you sound like the people who said desktop computers would be "little more than a novelty."

[John Dule]

A lot of you are spending too much time thinking about about "getting to Mars" and not enough about "getting a job."

On the contrary, thinking about other planets is the only thing that keeps me sane at work.

[John Dule]

Nonetheless, these poll results do help me to contextualize some of the political opinions I often see being expressed on this forum (and elsewhere). If you seriously think the Earth itself is humanity's final frontier, you are probably predisposed to wring your hands about billionaire spaceflights and minor ecological problems. Just know that to the rest of us, you sound like the people who said desktop computers would be "little more than a novelty."

It just strikes me as frivolous and frankly perverse to prioritize wild, distant fantasies over the things we need right here and right now to lead good lives. Even if we take everything you say as certain (which, frankly, you should be clear that this level of certainty is simply not supported, and you'd really be better off admitting that you're professing it as an article of faith like the rest of us do with other things), it's not exactly clear why the "sacrifices" needed to get there are worth it right now. Churchill's point that the good of distant future generations doesn't justify putting the current generation through untold misery was of course intended as a conservative argument against Stalinism, but it works just as well as a social-democratic argument against your technolibertarianism. If we have to let Earth rot away for a century for the vague promise of one day reaching for the stars, then frankly I'd just rather stay put.

You are reading way too much into my post. I didn't propose any policies or ideological structures as the best way of obtaining this goal. I said that this should be the end goal for every ideology, whether it is libertarianism, communism, or fascism.