[extropy-chat] DAY AFTER TOMORROW meets Asimov

Mike Lorrey mlorrey at yahoo.com
Thu Jun 10 19:34:10 UTC 2004


--- Don Dartfield <twodeel at jornada.org> wrote:
> On Thu, 10 Jun 2004, Mike Lorrey wrote:
> 
> > While it didn't deal with the possible genocide of alien species
> > explicitly, the terraforming proposal was there and the results are
> > logically derived.
> 
> Wouldn't Asimov consider terraforming to mean making lifeless worlds
> habitable, not killing off alien life so humans could occupy their
> planets?

No, terraforming means making planets have earth-like ecospheres. If,
for example, an ecosphere were based on amino acids of opposite
chirality to ours, all life would need to be wiped out in order to make
it habitable by us. If the ecosphere were methane rather than water
based, changing that is a MUCH bigger chore than just wiping out life
of opposite chirality. Robots, after travelling many light years at
sublight speed, would pick whatever planet could be formed for the
least work.

Keep in mind that the spacers generally considered themselves
distinctly different from humans on Earth. They were thus of sufficient
racial bias to easily entertain genocide of alien species.

=====
Mike Lorrey
Chairman, Free Town Land Development
"Necessity is the plea for every infringement of human freedom.
It is the argument of tyrants; it is the creed of slaves."
                                         -William Pitt (1759-1806) 
Blog: http://www.xanga.com/home.aspx?user=Sadomikeyism


	
		
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