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Wanted: People Willing to Die on Mars

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Re: Wanted: People Willing to Die on Mars

#31

Post by nisa »

rdl wrote: post #24
tokenadult wrote: post #10

I wonder how many people are willing to take on the real adventure of living in any of the twenty poorest countries in the world, or twenty most tyrannical countries of the world (there is overlap between the two sets) to try to change those from the inside. When I was in high school, going to a high school that was named after an astronaut just after the first moon landing, I thought it was completely natural to hav…

Not me. We mostly know the solutions to fixing the most oppressed or otherwise defective parts of the world; we just don't find it worthwhile to implement those solutions. I could solve 90% Equatorial Guinea's problems for The solutions to the most defective countries are all pretty straightforward and widely known; it's figuring out how to turn decent but not ideal countries like Pakistan into really stable first-wo…

> I could solve 90% Equatorial Guinea's problems for How so? And why is immunity required?

Re: Wanted: People Willing to Die on Mars

#32

Post by shantanubala »

rdl wrote: post #24
tokenadult wrote: post #10

I wonder how many people are willing to take on the real adventure of living in any of the twenty poorest countries in the world, or twenty most tyrannical countries of the world (there is overlap between the two sets) to try to change those from the inside. When I was in high school, going to a high school that was named after an astronaut just after the first moon landing, I thought it was completely natural to hav…

Not me. We mostly know the solutions to fixing the most oppressed or otherwise defective parts of the world; we just don't find it worthwhile to implement those solutions. I could solve 90% Equatorial Guinea's problems for The solutions to the most defective countries are all pretty straightforward and widely known; it's figuring out how to turn decent but not ideal countries like Pakistan into really stable first-wo…

> I could solve 90% Equatorial Guinea's problems for Oh really? What's your plan? How do you intend on ensuring that culture is preserved while you implement this plan? Or do you believe that Western culture is superior because it has been more successful in the last 100 years (forgetting that segregation ended less than 50 years ago, if you must include the eradication of entire populations as "successes," we can call it 500 years)? Even Bill Gates will admit that his solutions are imperfect at times.

The tricky part is a sustainable solution. Sure, you can throw money at problems, but how is the solution going to last? Like you said, there is already a lot of money involved (e.g. Bill Gates) in philanthropy, yet the problems haven't been solved yet. This indicates that the solution is trickier than you think. And if there is someone smart enough to engineer a solution, I would like to think Bill Gates is very qualified for such a position.

EDIT: Mainly, if you don't account for the culture of a place, a solution will likely not be popular enough to work (HIV prevention and treatment suffers from this problem).

Re: Wanted: People Willing to Die on Mars

#33

Post by dictum »

vfl0 wrote: post #3

I remember looking at a site that were planning a Mars mission and they expected you to pay in order to go on it. I have no idea why anyone would pay to be stuck on Mars..

You are underestimating the number of people who are interested in both a morally and socially acceptable suicide method and a claim to fame in science.

Re: Wanted: People Willing to Die on Mars

#34

Post by lumberjack »

I see that Mars One will be using the SpaceX vehicles. I wonder if Elon Musk will be fine with this, because as far as I see it, it is actually undermining the competitive spirit of the race for Mars which is more about building the better technology than actually setting the foot there first just to get your name on the history books. For someone as devoted to offering real technological innovation, as Elon Musk is, it would probably smack a bit of cheating.

Re: Wanted: People Willing to Die on Mars

#35

Post by nostromo »

tokenadult wrote: post #10

I wonder how many people are willing to take on the real adventure of living in any of the twenty poorest countries in the world, or twenty most tyrannical countries of the world (there is overlap between the two sets) to try to change those from the inside. When I was in high school, going to a high school that was named after an astronaut just after the first moon landing, I thought it was completely natural to hav…

Isn't this just western paternalism phrased to sound noble?

Here we come, with our advanced ways, to fix problems you might not even consider problems.

Re: Wanted: People Willing to Die on Mars

#36

Post by vitno »

While I am skeptical of the Mars One project, for many reason which others have covered very well, I would happily die on Mars.

I'm in my early 20's and I have big plans and dreams here on Earth. I would drop them instantly for the chance to go to Mars, one way trip or no.

Re: Wanted: People Willing to Die on Mars

#37

Post by rdl »

nisa wrote: post #31
rdl wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not me. We mostly know the solutions to fixing the most oppressed or otherwise defective parts of the world; we just don't find it worthwhile to implement those solutions. I could solve 90% Equatorial Guinea's problems for The solutions to the most defective countries are all pretty straightforward and widely known; it's figuring out how to turn decent but not ideal countries like Pakistan into really stable first-wo…

> I could solve 90% Equatorial Guinea's problems for How so? And why is immunity required?

Assassinating foreign heads of state, particularly those who have business interests closely allied with US corporations, isn't legal. Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo doesn't deserve something as clean as a bullet, but for reasons of practicality, it'll do. (and, realistically, you'd have to eliminate the entire leadership; it's essentially a corrupt group who pocket oil wealth and rule through fear and oppression. However, they sell oil relatively cheaply to the US, so they're good guys.) Mark Thatcher, son of the former UK PM, essentially tried this in 2004, but was undercapitalized.

Re: Wanted: People Willing to Die on Mars

#38

Post by indrax »

Udo wrote: post #22

If Mars can be mined for water (and it looks like it can), there is no reason to make it a one-way trip only. Sending people there with the explicit expectation to die soon speaks of poor planning and not a lot of willingness to export the basic tenets of humanity into space with us. It's a bad precedent, it carries the wrong message about the value of intelligent life, and I'm afraid the mission's limitations also i…

"Die on mars" does not mean "die soon". This proposal is not a suicide mission.

Re: Wanted: People Willing to Die on Mars

#39

Post by SoftwareMaven »

rdl wrote: post #24
tokenadult wrote: post #10

I wonder how many people are willing to take on the real adventure of living in any of the twenty poorest countries in the world, or twenty most tyrannical countries of the world (there is overlap between the two sets) to try to change those from the inside. When I was in high school, going to a high school that was named after an astronaut just after the first moon landing, I thought it was completely natural to hav…

Not me. We mostly know the solutions to fixing the most oppressed or otherwise defective parts of the world; we just don't find it worthwhile to implement those solutions. I could solve 90% Equatorial Guinea's problems for The solutions to the most defective countries are all pretty straightforward and widely known; it's figuring out how to turn decent but not ideal countries like Pakistan into really stable first-wo…

I think you vastly underestimate the difficulty of "fixing" a country. I think Russia is a good example: communism fell, but that doesn't mean things have necessarily gotten better for the average citizen. You could replace the entire government of Equatorial Guinea, but that won't address the problems like poor education that underlying many poor country's problems.
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