I guarantee you that in practice Americas became quite quickly self-sufficient. Ultimately it is the only required thing, the only which needs to be done.
People were also colonizing for ideological / religious / etc. reasons.
Did you miss what I wrote after that? (and actually also the last sentence of what you quote)
You concern is an illusion. You will most likely have more descendants than you could possibly comprehend (really comprehend, as in mindfully tracking the individuals) - just like you already don't do that with your ancestors. If not descendants, then lots of "neighboring" DNA lines anyway. If we ever get to serious space colonization, there's a quite high chance those will be your descendants. And for the living humans - quite close relatives.
There's a difference between able to fit billions and able to support billions (even ignoring metric from X axis - considering we are causing the sixth major extinction event anyway - that's still not straightforward)
Or robots that can do that mostly unsupervised, except for rare occasions, at which point a member of small crew orbiting Mars takes over that one particular robot (out of hundreds)
All those years of training(*) in small basement meant something after all? (well, assuming solo mission)
(*)though somebody still needs to do a proper one, in the style of MARS-500... including multi-minute communications delay (still better than what colonists on Earth had)
It also crossed my mind. But how certain are we of their (also continuing!) isolation? Plus such small isolated populations don't really change much, in context - I certainly don't expect them to remain isolated once participating in colonization of our system.
At most, very, very few people would be able to be transported to Mars - meaning that neither I nor any of my direct descendants are very likely to personally benefit.
That's actually not so clear - most recent common ancestor of us all lived most likely in historical times; and when limiting to "...of people of European descent", probably only a millennium ago. With the level of travel and intermixing nowadays, that will probably shorten significantly in the coming centuries.
How much do "direct descendants" even matter? Do we care about our direct ancestors? (can you tell me, without checking, when and in what city your grandfather from the side of your mother was born? What was the maiden name of your grandmother on the side of your father? Or something as basic about your great-g-g-g-g-g-g-grandmother (from the side of your mother, grandfather, great-grandfather, great-g-grandmother, g-g-g-grandmother, 4g-grandfather, 5g-grandmother, 6g-grandfather) as the continent on which she lived, century in which she lived, lifespan to the nearest decade, or linguistic family? Even if that information is somewhere - do you care to remember?). Too bad we can't recognize our relative insignificance as individuals... (estimates put the number of dead homo sapiens at 100+ billion; and, averaging, we don't even keep track of practically anybody who is actually living)
Yes, we can't - what you said will of course mostly remain to be the case (emotional level, et al). But there are perhaps ways to exploit it, and for good results: embryo colonization (or even egg & sperm) - that way we can send millions of people to Mars even almost right now (living colonists will need genetic diversity anyway). Of course, some prevalent "moralities" might get in the way of that approach...
(that said, I do agree how, except for cataclysms in which Mars probably wouldn't make a difference anyway, efforts to survive on Earth would be almost always much more efficient. And luckily colonies need to "only" achieve self-sufficiency...)
In Japan there is apparently no Ship of Theseus-like paradox (at least if Last Chance to See by Douglas Adams is to be believed; not sure what appearance of said paradox in Ghost in the Shell might mean) - the essence of given object is quite firmly not related to materials from which it is (currently...) composed.
I wonder if such "robots" can/will be viewed by as the birth of "androids" - if some were to be constantly worked on, that is.
Funnily enough, the thing which crushed railroads managed to do so while convincing us it's crucial, needs to be heavily subsidized...and bailed out again, and again, and again. It does seem that whims of people is all that matters.
"Shown"? (plus - if you'd put away tinfoil hat and checked at least the third, to which you reply, you'd see how using URL shortener is the fastest way to make URLs with certain types of characters work on/.)
"...the disaster known as East Germany" goes too far - the difference in life expectancy was 2-3 years tops, infant mortality lower only after 1980 (and not by much). More a case of slower improvement from some point in time - in which diet, lifestyle, pollution or working conditions played a large role, too.
East Germany was generally very intermediate in most regards between "East" and "West"; it can be argued that it also experienced Wirtschaftswunder, but what amounted to long-lasting plunder by Soviet Union retarded things. It was still one of the nicest places behind the Iron Curtain, already very much "the West" as far as perceptions even from People's Republic of Poland were concerned (not to mention for Soviet citizens...)
Hm, true (though also: lately/me semi-automatically assuming that an URL from Wiki might be non-ASCII / this one gave issues on/. recently...). At least surprise sort of fits with the content of the two above.
You seem to think China is a freer market than the US: HAHAHAHAHA. Seriously, person.
Well, it might be at least equally capitalist (in the "stalinist libertarian" sense too) - your worth and possibilities are entirely determined by the capital you control.
(/me must finally get to the bottom of this story / debt creation and buying in it)
Traction control is very relevant, it is something which has the capability to put you suddenly in a spin and there's not much you can do about it. Doubly problematic on a wet mountain road, etc.
(and engaging emergency brake at speed is...doable, but not something an ordinary good driver is used to; expect another spin)
Well, if Intel will have their way with "smartphone Atom"... (plus considering they even have a joint research center with Nokia & their cooperation on Meego - and how Meego was chosen by Genivi Alliance)
Wait a minute - when new cars are bought "prematurely", the old ones don't disappear. Large portion of them is used for many years, by other people...for example across the Oder and Neisse;p (yes, there's also recent "retire perfectly fine older car for subsidized new one! Auto industry needs your help!":/ )
(BTW - I believe we briefly discussed inexpensive Nokia handsets recently. Since it quite likely went unnoticed - I made a very late reply / recommendation there, after finding the subthread in old browser session on one machine)
Slashdot Mirror
I guarantee you that in practice Americas became quite quickly self-sufficient. Ultimately it is the only required thing, the only which needs to be done.
People were also colonizing for ideological / religious / etc. reasons.
Did you miss what I wrote after that? (and actually also the last sentence of what you quote)
You concern is an illusion. You will most likely have more descendants than you could possibly comprehend (really comprehend, as in mindfully tracking the individuals) - just like you already don't do that with your ancestors. If not descendants, then lots of "neighboring" DNA lines anyway. If we ever get to serious space colonization, there's a quite high chance those will be your descendants. And for the living humans - quite close relatives.
(yes, a powerful illusion - still an illusion)
There's a difference between able to fit billions and able to support billions (even ignoring metric from X axis - considering we are causing the sixth major extinction event anyway - that's still not straightforward)
I can't wait the cosmonaut from the poster.
He was just trying at new, state one. They even have an incorrupt body of a saint at public display!
Or robots that can do that mostly unsupervised, except for rare occasions, at which point a member of small crew orbiting Mars takes over that one particular robot (out of hundreds)
There are some intermediate steps possible.
All those years of training(*) in small basement meant something after all? (well, assuming solo mission)
(*)though somebody still needs to do a proper one, in the style of MARS-500 ... including multi-minute communications delay (still better than what colonists on Earth had)
It also crossed my mind. But how certain are we of their (also continuing!) isolation? Plus such small isolated populations don't really change much, in context - I certainly don't expect them to remain isolated once participating in colonization of our system.
Few million die, according to WHO - thousands each day . Millions do get sick, but that's quite a few millions...
There are very significant financial reasons, about which this was mostly about.
Do you volunteer most of the GDP of your country in this century?
At most, very, very few people would be able to be transported to Mars - meaning that neither I nor any of my direct descendants are very likely to personally benefit.
That's actually not so clear - most recent common ancestor of us all lived most likely in historical times; and when limiting to "...of people of European descent", probably only a millennium ago. With the level of travel and intermixing nowadays, that will probably shorten significantly in the coming centuries.
How much do "direct descendants" even matter? Do we care about our direct ancestors? (can you tell me, without checking, when and in what city your grandfather from the side of your mother was born? What was the maiden name of your grandmother on the side of your father? Or something as basic about your great-g-g-g-g-g-g-grandmother (from the side of your mother, grandfather, great-grandfather, great-g-grandmother, g-g-g-grandmother, 4g-grandfather, 5g-grandmother, 6g-grandfather) as the continent on which she lived, century in which she lived, lifespan to the nearest decade, or linguistic family? Even if that information is somewhere - do you care to remember?). Too bad we can't recognize our relative insignificance as individuals... (estimates put the number of dead homo sapiens at 100+ billion; and, averaging, we don't even keep track of practically anybody who is actually living)
Yes, we can't - what you said will of course mostly remain to be the case (emotional level, et al). But there are perhaps ways to exploit it, and for good results: embryo colonization (or even egg & sperm) - that way we can send millions of people to Mars even almost right now (living colonists will need genetic diversity anyway). Of course, some prevalent "moralities" might get in the way of that approach...
(that said, I do agree how, except for cataclysms in which Mars probably wouldn't make a difference anyway, efforts to survive on Earth would be almost always much more efficient. And luckily colonies need to "only" achieve self-sufficiency...)
And yet on at least few occasions some quirk (perhaps also in D2) prevented that from working properly...
In Japan there is apparently no Ship of Theseus-like paradox (at least if Last Chance to See by Douglas Adams is to be believed; not sure what appearance of said paradox in Ghost in the Shell might mean) - the essence of given object is quite firmly not related to materials from which it is (currently...) composed.
I wonder if such "robots" can/will be viewed by as the birth of "androids" - if some were to be constantly worked on, that is.
So now this is about computers? The times, they are changin'...
Funnily enough, the thing which crushed railroads managed to do so while convincing us it's crucial, needs to be heavily subsidized...and bailed out again, and again, and again. It does seem that whims of people is all that matters.
"Shown"? (plus - if you'd put away tinfoil hat and checked at least the third, to which you reply, you'd see how using URL shortener is the fastest way to make URLs with certain types of characters work on /.)
According to "one drop rule", close to which your place likely still operates, we all are (recent African origin of modern humans, et al)
Proper URLs with non-ASCII characters tend to have...quirks, on Slashdot. Quite a few of them at Wiki.
"...the disaster known as East Germany" goes too far - the difference in life expectancy was 2-3 years tops, infant mortality lower only after 1980 (and not by much). More a case of slower improvement from some point in time - in which diet, lifestyle, pollution or working conditions played a large role, too.
East Germany was generally very intermediate in most regards between "East" and "West"; it can be argued that it also experienced Wirtschaftswunder, but what amounted to long-lasting plunder by Soviet Union retarded things. It was still one of the nicest places behind the Iron Curtain, already very much "the West" as far as perceptions even from People's Republic of Poland were concerned (not to mention for Soviet citizens...)
Hm, true (though also: lately /me semi-automatically assuming that an URL from Wiki might be non-ASCII / this one gave issues on /. recently...). At least surprise sort of fits with the content of the two above.
Of course such place (or generally) was considered evil. Any day now?
You seem to think China is a freer market than the US: HAHAHAHAHA. Seriously, person.
Well, it might be at least equally capitalist (in the "stalinist libertarian" sense too) - your worth and possibilities are entirely determined by the capital you control.
(/me must finally get to the bottom of this story / debt creation and buying in it)
Traction control is very relevant, it is something which has the capability to put you suddenly in a spin and there's not much you can do about it. Doubly problematic on a wet mountain road, etc.
(and engaging emergency brake at speed is...doable, but not something an ordinary good driver is used to; expect another spin)
Well, if Intel will have their way with "smartphone Atom"... (plus considering they even have a joint research center with Nokia & their cooperation on Meego - and how Meego was chosen by Genivi Alliance)
Wait a minute - when new cars are bought "prematurely", the old ones don't disappear. Large portion of them is used for many years, by other people...for example across the Oder and Neisse ;p (yes, there's also recent "retire perfectly fine older car for subsidized new one! Auto industry needs your help!" :/ )
(BTW - I believe we briefly discussed inexpensive Nokia handsets recently. Since it quite likely went unnoticed - I made a very late reply / recommendation there, after finding the subthread in old browser session on one machine)