Evacuate Earth? Yes

On 6/15/12 5:51 AM, brooksn wrote:

> I agree the higher standard of living will likely slow growth down, we
> may need programs to increase birth rates.

That won't be necessary; natural selection will take care of it. People
are all different, and some prefer to have more kids than others. In
the absence of serious resource limits, those who prefer to have more
will quickly outnumber those who don't. (This will be even more true
once aging is cured.)

> There is a carrying capacity
> for the solar system, but it's likely really huge. Also if we don't wish
> to convert all matter in the solar system into hollow habitats, there
> will probably be a preference to leave large rocky bodies largely intact
> beyond terraforming. Asteroids, comets and small moons would seem like
> fair game though. As well as maybe even super earthing the ice giants. :)

Agreed. And don't forget the Kuiper belt, which is huge and full of
useful stuff.

> PS Of course as we expand into stable industrial strength off world
> colonies, getting out of the solar system becomes more feasible as well.

Right, if we don't kill ourselves off, that seems pretty much inevitable.

But, for an interesting treatment of how social structure might delay
that step for a while, read the Golden Age series by John Wright.

Best,
- Joe