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Ask HN: What super projects could unite humanity?
21–30 of 83 posts
Re: Ask HN: What super projects could unite humanity?
#22A Killer Asteroid (one that is big enough to wipe out all humanity) on a guaranteed course to collide with Earth within the next 10 years unless we do something about it. If basic self preservation against a visible and quantifiable threat will not unite humanity - I have very little hope for anything else.
The problem with a Killer Asteroid for the purposes of this discussion is that the solution would have to be extremely high tech (presumably large H-bombs on large rockets). Apart from paying larger taxes I'm not sure what most of us could do to contribute to such a project, so as far as "uniting humanity" goes I suspect we would see fracturing along lines of: - It's a government plot to get us to pay more taxes and…
> extremely high tech (presumably large H-bombs on large rockets)
How is 40s/50s technology high tech ?
Re: Ask HN: What super projects could unite humanity?
#23Manned trip to Mars Moon base Space Elevator
More likely to lead to increased competition between nations/corporations (see the dash for colonization in 19c, leading up to WW1).
Re: Ask HN: What super projects could unite humanity?
#24Not exactly inspiring, but an alien enemy would be a pretty good way of uniting the planet towards a common goal.
I suppose that is because of the evolutionary mechanism to keep the species alive. There's something in place that will unite us when extinction is a possibility (I believe this could be part of reason why wars eventually end..).
There's no such thing as an evolutionary mechanism that keep species alive.
Re: Ask HN: What super projects could unite humanity?
#25Not exactly inspiring, but an alien enemy would be a pretty good way of uniting the planet towards a common goal.
I think hostile aliens are a specific example of a more general unifier: non-human common enemies. This might include hostile AI (think SkyNet), solar radiation, or perhaps even a terrestrial worldwide pandemic (bacterial or viral).
I think that enemies you can see and anthropomorphise are more powerful, however, so I imagine a humanoid alien or terminator would be a better unifier than an invisible bacteria or global warming, even though all could be considered a common threat to humanity.
Re: Ask HN: What super projects could unite humanity?
#26ITER http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ITER
Maybe not ITER (or even DEMO), but specifically nuclear fusion becoming a viable practical energy source.
I went to JET last year, which was amazing to see, but I couldn't help but get the nagging feeling that we won't see tritium/deuterium fusion hit mainstream within our lifetimes.
Mind you, once it does reach mainstream that will change everything. Hopefully there won't be a race to mine helium 3 from the moon.
Re: Ask HN: What super projects could unite humanity?
#27Earlier quoted context omitted.
The problem with a Killer Asteroid for the purposes of this discussion is that the solution would have to be extremely high tech (presumably large H-bombs on large rockets). Apart from paying larger taxes I'm not sure what most of us could do to contribute to such a project, so as far as "uniting humanity" goes I suspect we would see fracturing along lines of: - It's a government plot to get us to pay more taxes and…
> extremely high tech (presumably large H-bombs on large rockets) How is 40s/50s technology high tech ?
You don't think designing a system that can deliver bombs deep into space is high tech?
It's not like we could get a Saturn-5 out of storage, fuel it up, stick a Tsar Bomba on the top and hope for the best.
Re: Ask HN: What super projects could unite humanity?
#28I thought about immortality, but I suspect you'd fail to enlist the (massive) religious populations of Earth since you'd be competing directly with their existing power structure and investment.
It's odd to think that it's already a saturated market.
Re: Ask HN: What super projects could unite humanity?
#29The Internet will provided it stays free and open. Through freely available information eventually we will resolve our petty differences, overcome destructive behavior and start fixing big problems like illness and space flight. Perhaps.
You haven't been following the Zed Shaw rant threads here have you?