Is a mission to Mars morally defensible?
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Re: Is a mission to Mars morally defensible?
#2> Musk wants to innovate and leave Earth, rather than to take care of it, or fix it, and stay.
Come on. This is bullshit. Musk is also pushing environmentalism here on Earth with SolarCity and Tesla. Going to Mars and taking care of Earth are in no way mutually exclusive.
Re: Is a mission to Mars morally defensible?
#3The same argument could be made about just about any human activity that isn't obviously beneficial to humanity, the environment, etc.
Is reading a discussion on HN morally defensible? You could be spending that time helping humanity somehow.
Is working at a tech start-up making mobile apps morally defensible? You could be working at a soup kitchen instead.
Is playing a video game morally defensible? You could be assisting volunteering at a shelter instead.
Is having heat in your house morally defensible? You could be turning it off to save money which you could send to help alleviate poverty, though this will require you to endure freezing temperatures in your home.
Re: Is a mission to Mars morally defensible?
#4The same argument could be made about just about any human activity that isn't obviously beneficial to humanity, the environment, etc. Is reading a discussion on HN morally defensible? You could be spending that time helping humanity somehow. Is working at a tech start-up making mobile apps morally defensible? You could be working at a soup kitchen instead. Is playing a video game morally defensible? You could be ass…
Save the Whales? Why, if there are people starving? Preserve Yellowstone? Why, if there are people starving?
Re: Is a mission to Mars morally defensible?
#5If you care about humanity existing in the far future then definitely yes.
Re: Is a mission to Mars morally defensible?
#6The same argument could be made about just about any human activity that isn't obviously beneficial to humanity, the environment, etc. Is reading a discussion on HN morally defensible? You could be spending that time helping humanity somehow. Is working at a tech start-up making mobile apps morally defensible? You could be working at a soup kitchen instead. Is playing a video game morally defensible? You could be ass…
Is paying for you own cancer treatment morally defensible? You could be paying for someone else's cancer treatment.
Re: Is a mission to Mars morally defensible?
#7> Musk wants to innovate and leave Earth, rather than to take care of it, or fix it, and stay. Come on. This is bullshit. Musk is also pushing environmentalism here on Earth with SolarCity and Tesla. Going to Mars and taking care of Earth are in no way mutually exclusive.
Musk is like an incarnation of Delos D. Harriman [1], if environmentalism gets him to Mars then he will be an environmentalist.
Re: Is a mission to Mars morally defensible?
#8The same argument could be made about just about any human activity that isn't obviously beneficial to humanity, the environment, etc. Is reading a discussion on HN morally defensible? You could be spending that time helping humanity somehow. Is working at a tech start-up making mobile apps morally defensible? You could be working at a soup kitchen instead. Is playing a video game morally defensible? You could be ass…
Is paying for you own cancer treatment morally defensible? You could be paying for someone else's cancer treatment.
Exactly. If you're 50 and paying for your own cancer treatment, that's morally indefensible if there's anyone younger than you who needs cancer treatment!
Re: Is a mission to Mars morally defensible?
#9The same argument could be made about just about any human activity that isn't obviously beneficial to humanity, the environment, etc. Is reading a discussion on HN morally defensible? You could be spending that time helping humanity somehow. Is working at a tech start-up making mobile apps morally defensible? You could be working at a soup kitchen instead. Is playing a video game morally defensible? You could be ass…
Save the Whales? Why, if there are people starving? Preserve Yellowstone? Why, if there are people starving?
You can take this to further lengths to demonstrate the shortsightedness:
Why should we worry about fixing up the problem with lead in drinking water in Flint as long as there's people there living in poverty and starving? We should just let everyone drink leaded water until the poverty problem is fixed.
Why are we wasting money on developing more efficient farming techniques as long as there's people starving? That money should be spend on feeding people instead.
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This is basically what the article is arguing: that we shouldn't develop new technologies as long as there's people living in poverty. Never mind that the new technologies developed improve the economy greatly and help life more people out of poverty.
Re: Is a mission to Mars morally defensible?
#10Love that this opens with "Whitey on Mars." Total trash. Keep this garbage off of HN please.