For or Against . . .

--- In spacesettlers@y..., Al Globus wrote:
>
> On Tuesday, September 10, 2002, at 12:18 PM, victoriatangoman
>
> > Proposition: The first habitat, not space station, in space MUST
> > have a population of 250,000 people in order to function as an
> > economically self-supporting nation.
> >
> Unlikely, because self-sufficient societies of much smaller size
have
> existed in the past and you present no evidence that the minimum
size
> could be smaller or larger.

My intent by throwing this stinkbomb into the group was to have
members poke holes into the proposition and then I would see how
well I could address their criticisms. I purposely didn't want to
present evidence, because I didn't want to create yet another long
winded post that dies on the vine.

I was hoping that I would get some rebuttals from members whose
opinions I respect and see what I could do to try to convince them
in favor of the stated propostion by way of addressing their
concerns.

I still happen to think that such stinkbombs are good tactics for
refining our arguments. I'd prefer to see hearty debate rather than
everyone sticking to uncontested conventional wisdoms. That makes
for a boring, self-reinforcing viewpoint in the group. Don't you
think?

I will indeed answer your question but in a day or two.