Comment
The app for independent voices
sometimes i wonder how many versions of myself i’ve outgrown without even noticing. i look back at old photos and remember the thoughts i used to carry, the dreams i thought would save me. it’s strange how you can live inside yourself every day and still not realize you’re evolving. it’s only when you look back that you realize how far you’ve come, how many lives you’ve already lived in the same skin.
You made it, you own it
You always own your intellectual property, mailing list, and subscriber payments. With full editorial control and no gatekeepers, you can do the work you most believe in.
Great discussions
Join the most interesting and insightful discussions.
Quoting the Weinersmiths: "an internationally managed system that regulated both where people are allowed to set up shop and what they’re allowed to do with the local resources once they get there. It wouldn’t be dynamic, it wouldn’t be like a science fiction novel"
It most certainly would be like a science fiction novel. They're describing the Lunar Authority which the Loonies of The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress revolted against. I suppose the ignorance is understandable. From the other views they'…
People who don't read much science fiction have a skewed view of what it is. The reality is sci fi introduces an enormous range of possibilities, and the future will indeed resemble science fiction in many ways, though no one novel will have all the answers, and many will be far off the mark.
Another good example, more pertinent to the topic of the Weinersmith's book, is the Red/Green/Blue Mars trilogy by Kim Stanley Robinson, in which the settlers revolted from a very similar kind of internatio…
Yes, unfortunately KSR has gone over to the dark side and become quite anti-settlement. Really he is just anti-capitalist, and made the switch around about the same time as commercial space took off.
That could be part of it, but I think he thinks the next few decades are so critical for Earth's biosphere that he believes we need to focus on it with everything we've got. He's openly stated fairly recently that he believes humanity will eventually settle throughout the solar system and wants to see that happen.
I'm not convinced that we can't do both - solve or at least mitigate the climate crisis while also beginning settlement of Mars. In fact, I agree with Zubrin that the effort to settle Mars will bring humanity deep knowledge which will enhance our capability to deal with Earth-based problems. Even calling the climate crisis an Earth-based problem isn't accurate, as you can't really remove Earth from the solar context. It's ultimately a space-based problem and going to space in a big way is going to be important to solving it.