That is an oversimplification to the point of absurdity. I guess you've never heard of K verus r reproductive strategies? If your asserted claim were true, then the most technologically advanced human societies would have the fastest population growth rate. In fact, the opposite is generally true.
Limitations based on the speed of light are only a problem for us because we have a such a limited lifespan. Its not hard to imagine a species that is biologically immortal (either naturally or technologically), for whom spending a few millennia on a interstellar journey is the equivalent to a long cruise at sea.
What makes you think that any sufficiently advanced species would want to colonize the galaxy? The whole assumption that advancement equals expansion is itself a primitive, imperialistic mindset. Most long term successful species establish a sustainable equilibrium with their environment.
Probably because Whole Foods large enough to give Amazon a grocery chain to have nationwide coverage, but small enough that they can write off the acquisition is their experiment doesn't work out. Amazon bought Whole Foods for just 27% more than its previous closing price, which is a bargain as far as corporate acquisition's go. Kroger, on the other hand, has seven times as many store and ten times the revenue; even Amazon couldn't buy them without risking the whole company.
You've got it all wrong. Upscale groceries aren't going "tits up", its just Whole Foods that is struggling because there's more competition in the upscale market than ever before. Since Whole Foods established a demand for natural/organic foods, there are now dozens grocers that are as good or better than Whole Foods, but with more competitive prices.
OTOH, I avoid establishments that don't have self checkout. Even if there is no line at the checkout, I will always use the self-check because I can scan and bag my groceries faster than the register jockey. I don't go grocery shopping for the "social experience". My goal when grocery shopping is to exchange symbolic currency units for tangible goods as efficiently as possible, not to make small talk about the sports or the weather or comment on my food choices or donate a dollar to charity.
Have you ever watched videos of astronauts on EVA missions? Its not a relaxing stroll on the beach. They are still confined to an environmentally sealed personal vehicle with their every movement under constant supervision. Watch Chris Hadfield's TED talk about how he was blinded and almost died on spacewalk. If that still sounds like a fun way to unwind outside, then maybe you are crazy enough to go Mars.
I laughed because its all rocket jock talk. What about the biology? Psychology? What are everybody going to do once they actually get there? How are you going to build an entire society from scratch?
Physics is simple. Biology is complex. Humans are insane.
No need to sign waivers. Once you stepped on the colony ship, you would have no freedom what-so-ever. If Martian Warlord Elon Musk builds a zero-g Thunderdome and draws lots for death matches, what are you going to do? Sue him?
Actually, that sounds pretty awesome. Maybe I'm could support this whole plan after all.
Of course I'm ignorant about Mars colonies. Just like I'm ignorant about dragons and magic. Because they are things that only exist in people's imaginations. I don't care if you've fantasized about martian colonies your whole life. Some people fantasize about dragons their whole lives, but that makes those people less realistic, not more credible.
I have lived in extreme conditions and/or small spaces for a week or so at a time. But I don't think having done so lends any weight to the choice of going to live on Mars or not.
You are absolutely right to think that whatever camping trip that you went on lends no weight to your argument. The fact that you would even bring that up shows how laughable little experience you have to make any relevant judgement.
need to be outside
The hypothetical colonists on Mars will NEVER go outside in any meaningful sense. You will be living in a cave, monitoring the robots that do the actual surface work. Do you think that being coal miner sounds like a lot fun? Because that will be your existence, 24/7. If you've watch video feeds from the rovers, you've already seen as much of the Martian surface as a colonist.
Not really. Survival rate on the Oregon Trail was about the same the rest of the world at the time. As your own link points out, the cholera outbreak along the Oregon Trail was part of a worldwide pandemic. Cities were hit as hard, if not harder, than frontier settlers.
In any given era, it is human nature to take any frontier we can take.
How many people are living in Antarctica? Actual colonizing: growing their own crops, raising children, manufacturing their own essentials, etc. How about interior Greenland? Gobi desert? How can you say that we're ready to colonize Mars when we haven't even colonized all the frontiers on this planet?
That gives us a non-zero probability of surviving if an extinction level event should happen.
We already have a non-zero probability of surviving if an extinction level event should happen. Earth has been hit by extinction level events many times in its history and every single time its still had infinitely more life than Mars has ever had. Even if Earth were simultaneous hit be a nuclear war, global warming and an asteroid, it would still be more hospitable to life than Mars.
Mars IS an extinction level event. Every single second on Mars is a more hostile environment than Earth has ever been since life evolved. That's not a back up plan. That's a cult suicide pact.
Have you served on a submarine? Have you overwintered in Antarctica? Have you worked on an off shore oil rig?
If not, then how can you say that you want to go to Mars and never come back when you don't even know what its like to live and work on the extremities of this planet?
Every person who even thinks about colonizing Mars should overwinter at McMurdo station for a least 2 years straight. I don't think you'll find a million volunteers after that screening process. Even Elon Musk would probably change his tune.
I'm going to guess that at least half of people who shop at grocery stores aren't actually interested in oogling hot girls. Maybe that's why your not in charge of hiring practices.
how many "regular" people are actually benefiting from Jamie Dimon's efforts?
That is a completely different criteria that just "public good". How many "regular" people can afford a Tesla? How many "regular" people are going to colonize Mars?
but something like 90% of all stocks and bonds are owned by less than 2% of the population.
The "regular" person might not own stock, but if you depend on goods and services from publicly traded companies, then you benefit from the existence of healthy financial market.
Sometimes you just have to go buy your own groceries, because "the help" don't always have the refined sophistication it takes to pick out only the finest fruits and cuts of meat.
Slashdot Mirror
That is an oversimplification to the point of absurdity. I guess you've never heard of K verus r reproductive strategies? If your asserted claim were true, then the most technologically advanced human societies would have the fastest population growth rate. In fact, the opposite is generally true.
Limitations based on the speed of light are only a problem for us because we have a such a limited lifespan. Its not hard to imagine a species that is biologically immortal (either naturally or technologically), for whom spending a few millennia on a interstellar journey is the equivalent to a long cruise at sea.
What makes you think that any sufficiently advanced species would want to colonize the galaxy? The whole assumption that advancement equals expansion is itself a primitive, imperialistic mindset. Most long term successful species establish a sustainable equilibrium with their environment.
Its just you or your location. Where I'm at (Seattle area), most stores have a self check out and it seems to work very well.
Probably because Whole Foods large enough to give Amazon a grocery chain to have nationwide coverage, but small enough that they can write off the acquisition is their experiment doesn't work out. Amazon bought Whole Foods for just 27% more than its previous closing price, which is a bargain as far as corporate acquisition's go. Kroger, on the other hand, has seven times as many store and ten times the revenue; even Amazon couldn't buy them without risking the whole company.
You've got it all wrong. Upscale groceries aren't going "tits up", its just Whole Foods that is struggling because there's more competition in the upscale market than ever before. Since Whole Foods established a demand for natural/organic foods, there are now dozens grocers that are as good or better than Whole Foods, but with more competitive prices.
OTOH, I avoid establishments that don't have self checkout. Even if there is no line at the checkout, I will always use the self-check because I can scan and bag my groceries faster than the register jockey. I don't go grocery shopping for the "social experience". My goal when grocery shopping is to exchange symbolic currency units for tangible goods as efficiently as possible, not to make small talk about the sports or the weather or comment on my food choices or donate a dollar to charity.
Have you ever watched videos of astronauts on EVA missions? Its not a relaxing stroll on the beach. They are still confined to an environmentally sealed personal vehicle with their every movement under constant supervision. Watch Chris Hadfield's TED talk about how he was blinded and almost died on spacewalk. If that still sounds like a fun way to unwind outside, then maybe you are crazy enough to go Mars.
Physics is simple. Biology is complex. Humans are insane.
You'll be forever remembered like the Jonestown cult. A bunch of gullible idiots killed by their ego-maniacal leader.
Actually, that sounds pretty awesome. Maybe I'm could support this whole plan after all.
Of course I'm ignorant about Mars colonies. Just like I'm ignorant about dragons and magic. Because they are things that only exist in people's imaginations. I don't care if you've fantasized about martian colonies your whole life. Some people fantasize about dragons their whole lives, but that makes those people less realistic, not more credible.
I have lived in extreme conditions and/or small spaces for a week or so at a time. But I don't think having done so lends any weight to the choice of going to live on Mars or not.
You are absolutely right to think that whatever camping trip that you went on lends no weight to your argument. The fact that you would even bring that up shows how laughable little experience you have to make any relevant judgement.
need to be outside
The hypothetical colonists on Mars will NEVER go outside in any meaningful sense. You will be living in a cave, monitoring the robots that do the actual surface work. Do you think that being coal miner sounds like a lot fun? Because that will be your existence, 24/7. If you've watch video feeds from the rovers, you've already seen as much of the Martian surface as a colonist.
Not really. Survival rate on the Oregon Trail was about the same the rest of the world at the time. As your own link points out, the cholera outbreak along the Oregon Trail was part of a worldwide pandemic. Cities were hit as hard, if not harder, than frontier settlers.
In any given era, it is human nature to take any frontier we can take.
How many people are living in Antarctica? Actual colonizing: growing their own crops, raising children, manufacturing their own essentials, etc. How about interior Greenland? Gobi desert? How can you say that we're ready to colonize Mars when we haven't even colonized all the frontiers on this planet?
That gives us a non-zero probability of surviving if an extinction level event should happen.
We already have a non-zero probability of surviving if an extinction level event should happen. Earth has been hit by extinction level events many times in its history and every single time its still had infinitely more life than Mars has ever had. Even if Earth were simultaneous hit be a nuclear war, global warming and an asteroid, it would still be more hospitable to life than Mars.
Mars IS an extinction level event. Every single second on Mars is a more hostile environment than Earth has ever been since life evolved. That's not a back up plan. That's a cult suicide pact.
If not, then how can you say that you want to go to Mars and never come back when you don't even know what its like to live and work on the extremities of this planet?
150 years as corporate slave in an environment more hostile that Antarctica. Yippee!
Every person who even thinks about colonizing Mars should overwinter at McMurdo station for a least 2 years straight. I don't think you'll find a million volunteers after that screening process. Even Elon Musk would probably change his tune.
I'm going to guess that at least half of people who shop at grocery stores aren't actually interested in oogling hot girls. Maybe that's why your not in charge of hiring practices.
how many "regular" people are actually benefiting from Jamie Dimon's efforts?
That is a completely different criteria that just "public good". How many "regular" people can afford a Tesla? How many "regular" people are going to colonize Mars?
but something like 90% of all stocks and bonds are owned by less than 2% of the population.
The "regular" person might not own stock, but if you depend on goods and services from publicly traded companies, then you benefit from the existence of healthy financial market.
What's wrong with tattoos? Does your food taste different if the cashier had some ink done?
Is Safeway the hook up spot for closeted homosexuals? Why can't you just have anonymous sex in truck stop bathrooms like the old days?
Sometimes you just have to go buy your own groceries, because "the help" don't always have the refined sophistication it takes to pick out only the finest fruits and cuts of meat.
Just because a women rejects your advances, doesn't mean she is a lesbian.