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Comment by JoeAltmaier | Hacker News Reader

You're projecting. I just don't value a few struggling bacteria the same way you do.

In the interest of science, you can keep some on your desk in a petri dish. As for the rest of mankind, we'll be using all the resources in our solar system that are available. The future belongs to a system-spanning culture that will terraform, relocate and resurface every available rock we find to make more space for life.

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It seems as though you think he's alone in voicing the least bit of concern for the fact that it might be valuable to hold up a second before steamrolling the (hypothetical) only extraterrestrial life we've discovered in the universe in the pursuit of a future which to me sounds, quite frankly, disgusting. Claiming that mankind shares your views en masse and furthermore making declarative statements about who "owns" the future is a monument to hubris and quite possibly a solid example of the projection you accuse others of.

You're assuming that they'd a few struggling bacteria - and that all of mankind wants to quit earth and spread as far and wide as possible. Both of which is basically bullshit. If anything - our population is heading towards its peak - which will follow with a sinking population. A majority of the developed world is greying - these are people who would have access to plenty of space and resources for their offspring - choosing not to have more. So I guess since you've taken on the role of the spokesperson for the "rest of mankind" - you might want to check in and see if humans are really that eager to go live on every rock in the solar system - or are fine where they are.

I don't have to run a poll. There's me, and folks like me. That's enough. Colonization never means 'most folks'; it always means only those willing to take risks and try something new. So your greying, senescent population can go ahead and stay at home without affecting anything regarding mankind's future.

I strongly suspect that if you took a poll, you would find that the real shortage will be a shortage of seats on rockets, not people to fill them. Even if people with a suitable exploratory attitude are one in a million, that still gives you thousands of volunteers.

Not if they have to pay it themselves

Yes, even if they have to pay for it themselves. Someone interested in being an off-world colonist will have little use for earth assets; they could liquidate everything. Even if you peg it at tens of millions, you would still have more willing volunteers than rocket seats for the foreseeable future.

Though I am not sure why you assume that would necessarily be the scenario..

I can't wait for the time when a new super intelligent alien race comes on earth and exterminates us all because to them we look just like a bunch of lichens under a rock. That's definitely the way to go.

Yeah; until then are you going to stop using mouthwash? Stop washing your hands? This is just a silly conversation.

That depends. Could it increase the possibility of discerning the existence of extraterrestrial life and of being able to study it in it's natural habitat if I don't?

But it's really not a silly conversation. You are comparing (assuming it exists) the only extra terrestrial life we have ever found. Literally alien life.

Mouthwash bacteria doesn't mean a thing when you kill it because it's bacteria and it originated on earth. Bacteria that originated on Mars would be completely different as we'd study it for years just to find out how it originated and survives.

While your techno-optimism is very inspiring, I'd rather not be the victim of a solar system black plague either. On the other hand, since we're speculating, I'm looking forward to the one piece of "dirt on a rock" somewhere that can make me immune to radiation while on my space voyage.

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