Disposable everything. Really. Everything.

Posted by John McGrath (Guest Contributor) at 8:39 PM on 20 Jun 2006

A few days ago, Stephen Hawking declared that the only hope for future human survival is space colonies. Specifically, Hawking said:

It is important for the human race to spread out into space for the survival of the species ... Life on Earth is at the ever-increasing risk of being wiped out by a disaster, such as sudden global warming, nuclear war, a genetically engineered virus or other dangers we have not yet thought of.

Now, I'm glad to add Hawking to the list of geniuses (genii?) who are scared witless about global warming. But is this how desperate we are, that the only choice is a reverse-Battlestar Galactica?

Now, I've mentioned before my love of science fiction, and I happen to be a devotee of Gerard K. O'Neill, who advocated the colonization of space in the 1970s. However, I don't know of anyone who seriously advocates space colonization as an escape for a tiny fraction of humanity. This view is usually mocked as the "disposable earth" idea.

O'Neill's original vision was to eventually (by a combination of settlement and natural population decrease) move the bulk of the human population off-Earth, and leave less than a billion humans on Earth. O'Neill explicitly put this in environmental terms, believing that the planet would be far better off with fewer people. He died in the early nineties, but I can't imagine he'd support space colonization as an escape hatch.

Of course, the problem with either Hawking or O'Neill's vision is that we have no way of getting from here to there yet. Meanwhile, the planet continues to bake. Maybe -- and I say this as a devoted nerd -- we could make saving the planet a priority, rather than building the lifepod?

For story: Disposable everything. Really. Everything.
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The Jetsons

It definitely seems like most people are content with colonizing Mars rather than trying to save our own planet. Maybe they all just feel it'd be easier to build a city high enough above the ground to avoid the poisoned air and buzz around in gas masks, like the Jetsons did, than tackle the environmental problems of such insurmountable proportions that we're so busily creating for ourselves.

It's sad, though, that even people as intellectually esteemed as Stephen Hawking would prefer colonizing a cold, inhospitable planet to saving our own Eden.

by EcoSpeak at 7:59 AM on 22 Jun 2006

It is sad

Not to show disrespect, but Hawkings' mind may finally be failing him, or maybe, he should just stick to what he excels in, cosmology. If we destroy the ecosystems of our own planet to the point that it cannot support us, we have sealed our own fate.

The idea that humanity could/should survive on mars or the moon without an industrial base supported by billions of people and our natural resources is naive in the extreme, not to mention pointless.

In the end, it all comes down to biodiversity. Poison Darts--Protecting the biodiversity of our world

by biodiversivist at 9:24 AM on 22 Jun 2006

Ocean colonies.

I think submersible ocean colonies need to be established first. Submersible for safety. And much more economical than space colonies.

It's not looking good for space travel since the means to do that is in short supply.

These ocean colonies could be self supporting through energy and aquacultural food exports, liquid fuels from algae and electricity through underwater cables. Solar, wind, wave, and ocean current power are abundant and renewable.

Floating attol like island design. With the major residential areas able to submerge within the protected area formed by a larger floating ring that collects wave power and protects the floating island.

Aquaculture would be located within the outer protective ring on floating docks. The problems with governance and owmership would need to be worked out. These could be sovereign nations, corporations, or part of existing nations.

Better to solve those difficulties here on earth before they have to be faced in space. In a best case scenario the land areas of earth could be preserved as the bulk of humanity takes up residence in these eco-friendly renewably powered and fed communities.

http://amazngdrx.blogharbor.com/blog John Schneider, Northern Wisconsin

by amazingdrx at 10:11 AM on 22 Jun 2006

Homer Simpson ...

happens to be on the mind. We just watched an old episode, in which Homer goes up in a space shuttle, and releases the contents of a bag of potato chips in zero grav, and breaks open an experimental ant colony, and the news media, mistaking the ant on the camera for an invading master race, bow down in craven surrender and compliance.

Stephen Hawking did a "Star Trek: Next Generation" episode, didn't he, in which he is playing poker (of all the boring wastes of time!) with Albert Einstein and Isaac Newton. And of course Jordy, who rigged the whole thing.

Anyway, I would not be too hard on the lad. True, it will take a lot of work to get any of us to go anywhere, and find that that "anywhere" will be worth hanging on to. But even truer, let us do what we can, while there is still a chance, to hang on to the home we have.

Chickens deserve our true friendship! So do fish! So do other sentient beings! Let us learn to be kind.

by caniscandida at 12:36 PM on 22 Jun 2006

Two comments

But even truer, let us do what we can, while there is still a chance, to hang on to the home we have.

I agree wholeheartedly... I do, however, think we need to broaden our definition of "what we can (do)" to include more revolutionary actions.

I am also skeptical of Hawking's idea of space colonies insofar as I'm not sure the human race can survive without Earth's biodiversity. This is the really dangerous aspect of capitalist development, in the long run: we are kissing Earth's biodiversity goodbye with the reckless invasion of natural habitats.

http://www.dailykos.com/User/Cassiodorus

by LegumeSam at 1:10 PM on 22 Jun 2006

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