They had to get there in the first place without knowing it was "worth it"
Columbus mistakenly thought the Earth was smaller. He wasn't exploring new land, he was taking a shortcut to the East. After they realized what happened, they decided it was worth it to go back.
And there are plenty of people who alive right now who would be willing and desire to be a colonist of Mars. So by your own standard, it would be "worth it".
They haven't tried it yet. I'm pretty sure the novelty will wear off quickly once they get there. But hey, as long as they're using their own money to get there, I'll be cheering for them.
Nature is cruel [wikipedia.org]: "More than 99 percent of all species, amounting to over five billion species, that ever lived on Earth are estimated to be extinct."
And at some point in time, humans will be one of the 99%. Big deal.
And yet, for all practical purposes, it was extremely dangerous and "not really worth it".
The explorers and immigrants went back, so it was clearly worth it. On the other hand, very few people are attracted to living in Siberia, the Australian outback, the Gobi desert, or Antarctica, all much more pleasant than Mars.
But my ultimate argument is for humanity to have loftier goals beyond merely surviving on Earth until the Sun makes the planet inhospitable.
I suggest we wait another 1000 years. Either we've completely collapsed, in which case having a colony on Mars wouldn't have helped, or we're much more advanced, in which case a Mars colony will be easier to establish.
If you have a primitive lifeform and the environment is just perfect for these lifeforms, they will explode to a uniform big soup of life, but as everybody lives, there is not really an incentive to evolve
As the population grows, they'll exhaust the food supply, and the population will crash again. There are your cycles.
Same could be said about explorers, and the immigrants that followed, crossing an ocean to discover and settle the Americas.
The Americas weren't exactly an extremely inhospitable desert, like Mars is. The explorers had breathable air, potable water, fertile ground, moderate temperatures, and no deadly radiation.
If a life-ending asteroid impacted the Earth, Mars could stand a chance as a backup
Our ancestors have survived billions of years here on Earth, going through multiple large impacts. At least some people will survive the next big one, and if you're really desperate, we could build a huge bunker in a mountain, with supplies for a few decades, for a fraction of the price of a Mars colony.
It's illegal to negotiate your salary ? What if two people get hired for identical positions, with identical degrees and years of experience, but one of them turns out to be 10 times as productive as the other, and wants a bonus and a raise. What are you going to do ?
Other stars are too far, and going through insane amounts of trouble just to add an extremely inhospitable desert to the Earth isn't really worth it. If humanity ends here on Earth, then a Mars colony isn't going to last much longer.
The problem is the employer-employee relationship is asymmetrical. The employer has all the power.
Only if there's a large pool of other good candidates available. I've seen employers spend 4 months interviewing candidates until they finally get someone with proper skills. I've also been that candidate, and I got hired with a 100% pay raise compared to previous job.
Or, just say: I only made such-and-such amount where I worked before, but for this new job I want this-and-that. Not lying, and you can straighten out any gap in one go.
It is a symptom of humanity's hubris to believe that an area the size of Earth is considered huge when measuring the massive black hole that sits at the center of our galaxy.
It is a symptom of humanity's hubris to believe that the black hole in our galaxy is considered massive.
Slashdot Mirror
If it worked so well for her, why did she switch back after a week ?
Funny, 90% of my former (male) bosses were selfish assholes, hated by most employees, but that never stopped them reaching the top.
In every company I've worked for, the head HR person was a woman. Maybe they are the majority of the problem.
But Google is NOT claiming that women employees are less qualified, or less productive, so that is irrelevant.
Google IS claiming there's no gender pay gap. So any difference in pay must be the result of productivity or qualifications.
We're almost the same. You're a nihilist regarding 99% of the species. I include the other 1% as well.
They had to get there in the first place without knowing it was "worth it"
Columbus mistakenly thought the Earth was smaller. He wasn't exploring new land, he was taking a shortcut to the East. After they realized what happened, they decided it was worth it to go back.
And there are plenty of people who alive right now who would be willing and desire to be a colonist of Mars. So by your own standard, it would be "worth it".
They haven't tried it yet. I'm pretty sure the novelty will wear off quickly once they get there. But hey, as long as they're using their own money to get there, I'll be cheering for them.
That happened before life developed. And it's not going to happen again, because there's no other big body around.
Nature is cruel [wikipedia.org]: "More than 99 percent of all species, amounting to over five billion species, that ever lived on Earth are estimated to be extinct."
And at some point in time, humans will be one of the 99%. Big deal.
In a thousand or ten thousand years technology is going to be a great deal more advanced than it is now
Or maybe not. Civilizations have busted before.
And yet, for all practical purposes, it was extremely dangerous and "not really worth it".
The explorers and immigrants went back, so it was clearly worth it. On the other hand, very few people are attracted to living in Siberia, the Australian outback, the Gobi desert, or Antarctica, all much more pleasant than Mars.
But my ultimate argument is for humanity to have loftier goals beyond merely surviving on Earth until the Sun makes the planet inhospitable.
I suggest we wait another 1000 years. Either we've completely collapsed, in which case having a colony on Mars wouldn't have helped, or we're much more advanced, in which case a Mars colony will be easier to establish.
If you have a primitive lifeform and the environment is just perfect for these lifeforms, they will explode to a uniform big soup of life, but as everybody lives, there is not really an incentive to evolve
As the population grows, they'll exhaust the food supply, and the population will crash again. There are your cycles.
Same could be said about explorers, and the immigrants that followed, crossing an ocean to discover and settle the Americas.
The Americas weren't exactly an extremely inhospitable desert, like Mars is. The explorers had breathable air, potable water, fertile ground, moderate temperatures, and no deadly radiation.
If a life-ending asteroid impacted the Earth, Mars could stand a chance as a backup
Our ancestors have survived billions of years here on Earth, going through multiple large impacts. At least some people will survive the next big one, and if you're really desperate, we could build a huge bunker in a mountain, with supplies for a few decades, for a fraction of the price of a Mars colony.
Gentlemen, I know many of you don't want to believe it, but we are collectively biased against hiring women even (especially)
Not just gentlemen are biased. The other ladies also don't want combative bitchy competent co-workers.
It's illegal to negotiate your salary ? What if two people get hired for identical positions, with identical degrees and years of experience, but one of them turns out to be 10 times as productive as the other, and wants a bonus and a raise. What are you going to do ?
Other stars are too far, and going through insane amounts of trouble just to add an extremely inhospitable desert to the Earth isn't really worth it. If humanity ends here on Earth, then a Mars colony isn't going to last much longer.
The only reason I can think of is that it will be a good way to practice terraforming that we can use later here on Earth.
The problem is the employer-employee relationship is asymmetrical. The employer has all the power.
Only if there's a large pool of other good candidates available. I've seen employers spend 4 months interviewing candidates until they finally get someone with proper skills. I've also been that candidate, and I got hired with a 100% pay raise compared to previous job.
Just do a good job, and there's no incentive to fire you.
Or, just say: I only made such-and-such amount where I worked before, but for this new job I want this-and-that. Not lying, and you can straighten out any gap in one go.
There's no reason why everybody would have to the lie by the same percentage.
Just because you don't know what someone made in their previous job doesn't mean that they'll be offered more.
It is a symptom of humanity's hubris to believe that an area the size of Earth is considered huge when measuring the massive black hole that sits at the center of our galaxy.
It is a symptom of humanity's hubris to believe that the black hole in our galaxy is considered massive.
But using chemical weapons is simply too awful and too horrific to ignore
Is it really that much worse than getting hit by a bullet ?
There's no way to ever "finish the job properly".
When people first meet, they tend to put their best side forwards
Yes, they do, but only towards the person they are trying to impress. You can learn a lot more by studying how they interact with others.
women like assholes
Many women do. Assholes are often more successful in life, so these are desirable genes to get for your sons.