All this talk of Hypothetica and NASA reform and if only this or that and
old dreams gets more and more complicated and less assuring. I've got a set
of questions to ask and I know how I would answer them, they wouldn't even
take long to answer but I'll ask them anyway. What are our goals, where are
we going and why? When and how are we going to get 'there', and what will
there feel like? What will happen next after we get there? What I will
eventually get to is what I would think if O'Neill's vision became obselete
before it even saw the light of day.
When I reconsidered all this is I wondered what an O'Neillite would say
if, somehow or another, in the next 20 years a startling scientific
revelation was made and a new technology was developed that meant everything
to human life off the planet Earth. A technology that, for example,
encouraged people who wanted to start Moon tourism to simply convert an old
sea-liner into a spacecraft and 'lift it off' into orbit, as that would be
the most reliable method to start such an industry. It would make FTL a
distinct reality, and nanotechnologies would be developed that allowed us to
make fine adjustments in planetary biospheres, or even a machine that had
the ability to make any planet's gravity match Earth's. Even a miracle
energy source that was based off of the compression of vacuum would be a
result of this technology; etc.
I'm considering these sci-fi fantasies because I wonder what I would think
if this scenario actually go itself carried out. I would no doubt be overly
enthusiastic and excited about it, my first reaction would be to pee in my
pants. However, I would also feel remorseful. O'neill's fantasy about
man's next step into space has a romantic and adventurous air to it that I
cannot ignore. Man conquering nature in a triumphant leap to the next
frontier nags on my emotions ever so dearly, I know a cheap ticket to the
boundaries of the high frontier and beyond would thrill me too, but I still
don't think I could shake off my remorse. I've dreamt countless nights
about orbiting habitats and the glory they would bring to humanity and the
infinite opportunities they would represent.
What I'm getting at is, what if our ideas for how the next 500 years will
work, the ideas this list constantly spends precious time worrying over,
what if those 500 years were cut out of the timeline as if they had never
and were never to happen. I would probably cry.
I suppose we are all in one way or another working for this interstellar
dream to become a reality, but what would we say if we had to bypass
O'Neill's vision for humanity's next step.
I know this list is SSI, and should be more focused on science and less on
philosophy, and that I should keep my mouth shut (I am definitely not a
scientist), but this scenario presented itself to me in my mind and I could
not ignore it. Again, I do not want to flood this list with philosophy, but
maybe considering this situation will help focus our goals.
mainstream fashion comes from Japan and a television show called Mobile Suit
Gundam. Unfortunately this show has something to do with filling colonies
with poisonous gasses and colliding them with Earth in a horrible war. Such
a depiction of High Frontier life would be strongly against O'Neill's dream,
and it is unfortunate he has to be recognized in this fashion. Good luck to
everyone and always remember O'Neills remark about how anything, if people
apply themselves to it, can be done in an extraordinarily short period of
time.
When I reconsidered all this is I wondered what an O'Neillite would say
if, somehow or another, in the next 20 years a startling scientific
revelation was made and a new technology was developed that meant everything
to human life off the planet Earth. A technology that, for example,
encouraged people who wanted to start Moon tourism to simply convert an old
sea-liner into a spacecraft and 'lift it off' into orbit, as that would be
the most reliable method to start such an industry. It would make FTL a
distinct reality, and nanotechnologies would be developed that allowed us to
make fine adjustments in planetary biospheres, or even a machine that had
the ability to make any planet's gravity match Earth's. Even a miracle
energy source that was based off of the compression of vacuum would be a
result of this technology; etc. Here's my take on this. In addition to "The High Frontier", O'Neill wrote another very good book that far fewer people know about, "2081: A Hopeful View of the Human Future". Before he set out to predict the world of 2081, he did a very sensible thing.O'Neill looked at prophets of theprevious 100 years, and tried to draw lessons from where they hit the mark, and where they missed it. What he found was this: Where the prophets went widest of the mark is where they imagined radically new technolgies like antigravity and whatnot. When in truth, the kinds of things which did reshape the entire world in the decades which came later, things like radar, jet engines, etc., were based not on new physics, but on physics which was quite well known to the prophet at the time. Thus O'Neill chose to predicate his predictions on the advancement of technologies based on physics already pretty well understood, such as magnetic flight, energy beaming, and orbital habitats. O'Neill's comments on the disadvantages of being at the bottom ofa gravity well and the advantages of continuous solar power will probably still be as valid a century from now as today. I don't lose a lot of sleep worrying that the invention of antigravity or zero point energy will overturn these points any time in the forseeable future. Some say that nanotechnology will makeHigh Frontier irrelevant, or that we will enter into a post-human future before we enter a future of space settlement. I agree with those who say that nanotech would only result in bigger and better O'Neill habitats, and better space transportation systems for flying out to them. In a post-human future, I think O'Neill's points about gravity wells and access to solar power will be just as relevant to them, although I would expect their orbital platforms to be less Earthlike than we suppose will be the case for our kind of human being. A machine-based human being would probably have even less of an attachment to the planetary concept than we present biological humans do.
Regards,
Excellent points Mike! My reply was much shorter. "Who cares! Why
waste time worrying about things that we have no idea how to make
happen? Grasp the tools at hand and move forward."
mejames@...
http://www.InnerTransit.net (Email distribution for multilevel organizations)
http://www.InnerTransit.org (Homebase for collaborative engineering)
Just for a moment let us assume that all the fantasy technology is
there what of it? It would make it easier to get into space and thus
easier to build the colonies in question.
part of people going. In the 1850's it was the place to go to get away
from European oppression, famine, poverty. In the 1990's there is no
frontier left to conquer, but people still come.
I don't understand how the ideas would be cut out of the timelines.
The technology you are talking about would make the colonies easier to
build and thus more attractive, just as airplanes make it more
attractive to emigrate to North America compared to wooden boats.
Bill
> All this talk of Hypothetica and NASA reform and if only this or
that and
> old dreams gets more and more complicated and less assuring. I've
got a set
> of questions to ask and I know how I would answer them, they
wouldn't even
> take long to answer but I'll ask them anyway. What are our goals,
where are
> we going and why? When and how are we going to get 'there', and
what will
> there feel like? What will happen next after we get there? What I
will
> eventually get to is what I would think if O'Neill's vision became
obselete
> before it even saw the light of day.
> When I reconsidered all this is I wondered what an O'Neillite
would say
> if, somehow or another, in the next 20 years a startling scientific
> revelation was made and a new technology was developed that meant
everything
> to human life off the planet Earth. A technology that, for example,
> encouraged people who wanted to start Moon tourism to simply convert
an old
> sea-liner into a spacecraft and 'lift it off' into orbit, as that
would be
> the most reliable method to start such an industry. It would make
FTL a
> distinct reality, and nanotechnologies would be developed that
allowed us to
> make fine adjustments in planetary biospheres, or even a machine
that had
> the ability to make any planet's gravity match Earth's. Even a
miracle
> energy source that was based off of the compression of vacuum would
be a
> result of this technology; etc.
> I'm considering these sci-fi fantasies because I wonder what I
would think
> if this scenario actually go itself carried out. I would no doubt
be overly
> enthusiastic and excited about it, my first reaction would be to pee
in my
> pants. However, I would also feel remorseful. O'neill's fantasy
about
> man's next step into space has a romantic and adventurous air to it
that I
> cannot ignore. Man conquering nature in a triumphant leap to the
next
> frontier nags on my emotions ever so dearly, I know a cheap ticket
to the
> boundaries of the high frontier and beyond would thrill me too, but
I still
> don't think I could shake off my remorse. I've dreamt countless
nights
> about orbiting habitats and the glory they would bring to humanity
and the
> infinite opportunities they would represent.
> What I'm getting at is, what if our ideas for how the next 500
years will
> work, the ideas this list constantly spends precious time worrying
over,
> what if those 500 years were cut out of the timeline as if they had
never
> and were never to happen. I would probably cry.
> I suppose we are all in one way or another working for this
interstellar
> dream to become a reality, but what would we say if we had to bypass
> O'Neill's vision for humanity's next step.
> I know this list is SSI, and should be more focused on science and
less on
> philosophy, and that I should keep my mouth shut (I am definitely
not a
> scientist), but this scenario presented itself to me in my mind and
I could
> not ignore it. Again, I do not want to flood this list with
philosophy, but
> maybe considering this situation will help focus our goals.
>
> On a side note, the only recognition of O'Neill's ideas I have seen
in any
> mainstream fashion comes from Japan and a television show called
Mobile Suit
> Gundam. Unfortunately this show has something to do with filling
colonies
> with poisonous gasses and colliding them with Earth in a horrible
war. Such
> a depiction of High Frontier life would be strongly against
O'Neill's dream,
> and it is unfortunate he has to be recognized in this fashion. Good
luck to
> everyone and always remember O'Neills remark about how anything, if
people
> apply themselves to it, can be done in an extraordinarily short
period of