[ExI] The Elysium effect: The coming backlash to the billionaire 'NewSpace' revolution

[Darin Sunley]

"To scale" may be setting the bar too high. By that definition - "billions"
- we haven't yet taken air conditioning, and have only just barely taken
hot and cold running water "to scale".

On Wed, Oct 28, 2020 at 1:39 PM Ben Zaiboc via extropy-chat <
extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org> wrote:

> On 28/10/2020 18:02, John Grigg wrote:
>
> We need to get our best minds out there, to observe and help us understand
> what is happening down here, but also to develop new technologies and ways
> to save the planet
> <https://www.livescience.com/4091-10-ways-improve-earth-health.html>,
> create new products such as medicines and to begin utilizing the resources
> of space to take the pressure off our home world. Governments have shown
> they are unable to make it efficient, and they certainly can't take it to
> scale.
>
> Look, if you're reading this, you probably already "get it" when it comes
> to the importance of opening what Dr. G.K. O'Neill called "The High
> Frontier
> <https://target.georiot.com/Proxy.ashx?tsid=74387&GR_URL=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2FHigh-Frontier-Human-Colonies-Apogee%2Fdp%2F189652267X%3Ftag%3Dhawk-future-20%26ascsubtag%3Dlivescience-us-4858645465568343000-20>"
> (the seminal book on space settlement that converted Bezos and became one
> of his early products). There isn't much time for the space community to
> act, and as members of a society of nerds for whom it is as patently
> obvious that we must open space as that there will be another "Star Trek
> <https://www.space.com/31802-star-trek-space-tech.html>" spinoff, we need
> to get much better at engaging the rest of the world in this new
> conversation about space.
>
> It really is critical that these space revolutionaries not only be allowed
> to, but are supported in their quests. The best thing we can do is to
> understand and speak to the concerns of those who don't yet understand why
> this is happening and what the true drivers are behind it all."
>
>
> I think exactly the same could be said about uploading research, and imo,
> that is much more likely, relevant and useful.
>
> I used to be a big fan of space colonisation ('monkeys in space' version),
> but ever since learning about uploading, have changed my mind. I can't see
> putting biological humans into space as a solution to anything, it's far
> too difficult, expensive, and could only ever be applied to a tiny fraction
> of the human race. Uploading, on the other hand, has the potential to be
> far cheaper, attainable for everyone who wants it, and much, much more
> useful.
>
> And, once uploading is cracked, space colonisation would be trivially
> easy. Our ecological footprint could be far smaller, if it was taken up en
> masse, and it would open up possibilities that stagger the imagination.
>
> To me, now, the traditional notion of space colonisation looks quaint and,
> frankly, misguided.
>
> "Governments have shown they are unable to make it efficient, and they
> certainly can't take it to scale.". True. Nobody can, not when "to scale"
> refers to billions of people. Putting a 100kg package into orbit will
> always take the same minimum amount of energy. Uploading a person's mind,
> on the other hand, is subject to all kinds of technological and economic
> 'accelerating returns' principles. Actually transmitting an uploaded mind
> off the planet, well, that would take a few watts.
>
> Yes, the infrastructure would have to be in place for that to make any
> sense.
>
> We already routinely launch satellites and robotic probes all over the
> solar system. The only extra factor would be some computing substrate to
> run minds in, and a receiver that could reliably catch the transmitted
> minds. Suddenly, your dumb robotic probes would be alive, intelligent,
> communities of people. Migrating the tribes of humanity into space would be
> a matter of expending a few gigawatts of radio energy. You wouldn't even
> have to wreck the environment for those who choose to stay behind.
>
> I'm not saying it would be easy, just that it would be easier, cheaper,
> more practical and more realistic than 'monkeys in space'. As well as being
> something that can be worked on by small outfits. Not something that can be
> said of biological space colonisation.
>
> Re. 'saving the planet', I think George Carlin said it best. It's not the
> planet that needs saving. The planet's fine.
>
> This is one nerd to whom it's patently obvious that we need to develop
> uploading technology as soon as we possibly can. You can watch too much
> "Star Trek". It should remain firmly in the realm of entertainment, I
> reckon, while we get on with developing uploading (after which, you can
> indulge in as much Star Trek as you want! All the cool things (even the
> impossible ones) in Star Trek (and much more besides) would be easy for
> uploads).
>
> --
> Ben Zaiboc
>
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