Live data from Hacker News

Dear Moon

dearmoon.earth

171–180 of 246 posts

Re: Dear Moon

#171
post #2

This may go down in history as the most amazing (and maybe most expensive) art project of all time. I am just flabbergasted; this is astounding. I sincerely hope that the BFR comes to fruition in the way SpaceX has been billing it, and reasonably close in terms of timeline.

This is an "art" project because of the media/domains involved, but it's not an art project. It's very low-brow, but not the sort of independent low-brow that bursts with charm and zeal. It's too transactional, too structured, too contextualized, and too eagerly public. At best, this sort of big-money, one-off commission leads to the Teleharmonium and EPCOT and the Saatchi gallery, not Schiele or Baraka or I-Be Area.…

Many of the most famous works of classical art in the world were transactional and "eagerly public" in their time. The great artists of the renaissance created many works entirely funded and instigated by rich benefactors or the church, and which were intended for the consumption an awed public. But nowadays we don't look at the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel and think about the politics of the patronage relationship between Pope Julius II and Michelangelo. That's a historical issue, of no importance when considering its long-term artistic merit.

Great art transcends its origins, no matter what they are. Indeed, perhaps art is made greater by transcending its origins, just as it is by transcending the limitations of its form. The art created by this project probably won't be great, because most art isn't great. But it certainly could be. And, if so, your a priori dismissal of it will look about as informed as a contemporary renaissance critic dismissing a masterpiece as just another piece of church-funded propaganda.

Re: Dear Moon

#172
post #87

Honestly, this is beautiful. Let's fucking do it. No seriously...let's do it. We're humans - this is the kind of funny, beautiful, impossible stuff we can uniquely do. Capital allocation? Bleh, don't be so boring and uninspired!

How much of your capital do you plan to allocate? And do you plan to allocate any of mine (i.e., the taxpayer)?

About $33 assuming median wages[1]. Maybe $150 assuming SF area tech salaries.

You spend more on war.

1. https://www.space.com/10849-nasa-budget-contribute.html

Re: Dear Moon

#173

Honestly, I don't see how this is any bigger of a deal than going to the moon in the first place. There is a level of forced sentimentality here, as if a painter or a musician is going to see something different from a regular astronaut, because they're just special. Any time I see something like the level of response somewhere, I can't help but assume everyone thinks they're saying what they're supposed to say. "Thi…

> as if a painter or a musician is going to see something different from a regular astronaut

The point isn't that they'll see something else, but that they may tell about it better.

Re: Dear Moon

#174

Honestly, I don't see how this is any bigger of a deal than going to the moon in the first place. There is a level of forced sentimentality here, as if a painter or a musician is going to see something different from a regular astronaut, because they're just special. Any time I see something like the level of response somewhere, I can't help but assume everyone thinks they're saying what they're supposed to say. "Thi…

> as if a painter or a musician is going to see something different from a regular astronaut A scientist, after years of training, can look at a physical system, break it down into its component parts, figure out how to model each part using mathematics, synthesize the models, and then do experiments to confirm the overall model. An artist, after years of training, can look at a scene from twenty different perspectiv…

Don't reduce artists and scientists to their professions?

Scientists can be artistic and artists can be scientific. They overlap.

Re: Dear Moon

#176
I also think this amazing! On the discussion as to what dollars should be spent on (tax dollars or private) I recommend listening to Neil deGrasse Tyson who explains in simple and very well [0]. It's mind blowing when you think about it really. Such a small fraction of all money in the world and it often leads to great solutions which we take for granted every day now.

I'm really excited about seeing this succeed and what might come out of it. How will our world look 10 years from now.

[0] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uYs8TpFzIPI (Here on Joe Rogan podcast)

Re: Dear Moon

#177
post #151

If they allow people to vote on which artist to be chosen then my vote would go to Andy Weir[1] (author of The Martian[2])... but then in his talks he stated quite clearly of his fear of flying, so ... :D [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andy_Weir [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Martian_(film)

But isn't exposure therapy a good way to get rid of your fears? ;)

Re: Dear Moon

#178
post #87

Honestly, this is beautiful. Let's fucking do it. No seriously...let's do it. We're humans - this is the kind of funny, beautiful, impossible stuff we can uniquely do. Capital allocation? Bleh, don't be so boring and uninspired!

How much of your capital do you plan to allocate? And do you plan to allocate any of mine (i.e., the taxpayer)?

How about not buying some of those problematic F-35's? Or, maybe, skip the next invasion of a foreign country. Do you have any idea how much a bomb costs?

Re: Dear Moon

#179

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> as if a painter or a musician is going to see something different from a regular astronaut A scientist, after years of training, can look at a physical system, break it down into its component parts, figure out how to model each part using mathematics, synthesize the models, and then do experiments to confirm the overall model. An artist, after years of training, can look at a scene from twenty different perspectiv…

Don't reduce artists and scientists to their professions? Scientists can be artistic and artists can be scientific. They overlap.

I like to say I write executable poetry.

Re: Dear Moon

#180

Honestly, I don't see how this is any bigger of a deal than going to the moon in the first place. There is a level of forced sentimentality here, as if a painter or a musician is going to see something different from a regular astronaut, because they're just special. Any time I see something like the level of response somewhere, I can't help but assume everyone thinks they're saying what they're supposed to say. "Thi…

> as if a painter or a musician is going to see something different from a regular astronaut

It's very hard to see the world well enough to paint it. Anyone with artistic training will have techniques to see things more clearly. A painter will absolutely see something different than a regular astronaut.

Post reply on HN