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Elon Musk: "I would like to die on Mars"

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61–70 of 145 posts

Re: Elon Musk: "I would like to die on Mars"

#62
Re: “Boeing just took $20 billion and 10 years to improve the efficiency of their planes by 10 percent. That’s pretty lame. I have a design in mind for a vertical liftoff supersonic jet that would be a really big improvement.”

I respect what the guy has done. But a vertical liftoff supersonic jet is going to be more difficult than anything he had encountered, including rockets.

Re: Elon Musk: "I would like to die on Mars"

#63
post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What you can surmise from that is that they've both probably taken some acid in their lifetimes. If Jobs were alive and younger, he too would probably have been at Burning Man, place of many a revelation to the technologically inclined.

You don't need acid to say things like that, just Star Trek.

Coming to this conclusion on acid is much more gripping and powerful than while watching star trek.

Re: Elon Musk: "I would like to die on Mars"

#64
post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What you can surmise from that is that they've both probably taken some acid in their lifetimes. If Jobs were alive and younger, he too would probably have been at Burning Man, place of many a revelation to the technologically inclined.

You don't need acid to say things like that, just Star Trek.

[deleted]

Re: Elon Musk: "I would like to die on Mars"

#65
post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Jobs was never a cool guy in my book. For me, Steve Jobs was an egocentric and self-centered. Elon is a visionary, just read this quote: “I came to the conclusion that we should aspire to increase the scope and scale of human consciousness in order to better understand what questions to ask. Really, the only thing that makes sense is to strive for greater collective enlightenment.” Steve isn't even near to the impact…

I think Steve Jobs' "bicycle for our minds" metaphor for computers, was quite nice. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ob_GX50Za6c#t=0m25s

There's definitely a notorious difference from the young Steve Jobs to the older Steve Jobs.

Re: Elon Musk: "I would like to die on Mars"

#66
post #8

Now that Jobs is gone, Elon is probably the coolest guy in the world. Can't wait to see what he comes up with in the next 10-20 years.

What I personally like about Elon - he has demonstrated that he gambles with his own money. This makes him fairly unique among serial entrepreneurs who love to raise massive rounds for their next projects even after a prior successful "exit", using lame excuses about discipline, supervision, reality checks, second opinion, etc.

Re: Elon Musk: "I would like to die on Mars"

#68
post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When I was young and was reading a lot of pulp science fiction books, I was in love with Mars. But those books are fiction. The reality of Mars is not a great cosmic adventure. Mars is a shithole. Don't get me wrong--Mars should be explored, and we will find some truly breathtaking things. And if we find life on Mars, the scientific paydirt will be huge. However, the great finds and exploration of Mars will be done b…

Have you ready the Red / Green / Blue mars trilogy? It might change your mind. Also, not that it's possible, but why would you want to increase martian gravity? 1/3G would be awesome for sport.

I loved those books to death, but the parent is right. Mars is a rustier version of the moon with slightly better scenery.

Imagine a life where you as a native Martian never get to go outside, never get to feel fresh air, never get to meet a stranger, never get to storm off, never get the chance to live truly alone, never get to punch a wall, and never get a chance to see another world. No streams, no swimming, no oceans, no forests, nothing.

The footprints you make will still be there a hundred million years later. Mars is a one-way trip to a terribly cold and lonely place.

Re: Elon Musk: "I would like to die on Mars"

#69
post #11

How about... you know, not dying? At least in the foreseeable future. You can do a lot more awesome engineering and science and exploration if you don't die after ~80 years.

The estimated price tag for a good shot at implementing SENS and demonstrating robust reversal of aging in mice is $1B: $10M/year for ten years in each of seven research programs, plus some padding. http://www.fightaging.org/archives/2004/11/strategies-for-en... http://www.fightaging.org/archives/2012/04/aubrey-de-grey-on... http://www.fightaging.org/archives/2004/10/the-cost-of-sens....

I'm not a billionaire (yet), but that's why 100% of my charitable donations go to the SENS foundation. Every marginal dollar has a much higher expected utility there than anywhere else that I've found.

Re: Elon Musk: "I would like to die on Mars"

#70
post #33
post #11

How about... you know, not dying? At least in the foreseeable future. You can do a lot more awesome engineering and science and exploration if you don't die after ~80 years.

I think it is hard to foresee removing from the foreseeable future one of the few bits of the future that is foreseeable.

Not that hard to imagine and plan for:

http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/view/id/39

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=8554766938711591377&...

http://www.amazon.com/dp/0312367066

http://citywire.kuluvalley.com/view/E586AD51-418F-C8CE-442B-...

http://michaelgr.com/2011/10/24/aubrey-de-grey-on-the-diseas...

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