[Falconoffury]

I recently stumbled upon this article.

http://www.universetoday.com/am/publish ... lanet.html

It shows a planet recently discovered in a nearby star system using the wobble method. Planets have a lack of a light source, and they are very difficult to locate even with the wobble method, so there could be thousands of undiscovered planets within our galaxy.

Suppose that we have the capability the find these planets, and the technology to reach these planets through space travel. Would it be a good idea for our species to colonize other planets?

My opinion is that it would not be a good idea. If you look at how badly we are ruining Earth, then I would hate for us to ruin the whole galaxy. Some people say that we could terraform a planet by introducing algae and other methods. Even if this was possible, we would just destroy it after colonizing it, and probably pollute the planet worse than when we found it.

Of course corporations would love to colonize a planet and start exploiting resources right away. With Earth running out of room and resources, they would love to keep their company and the economy in general growing. That's the problem right there. If we continue living a growth based lifestyle, we will just spread like cancer throughout the universe.

I see lots of star wars fans who have high hopes for the future. They think star wars technology will be available soon, and we will have all the luxuries, weapons, and technology of basically limitless energy. That's just not the case, and even if we had that technology, it would be bad for the galaxy.

[lorenzo]

The problem is that cornucopians have a very strong point now. They use the idea that humanity's environment is not limited to the earth's biosphere, because colonizing and terraforming Mars is becoming increasingly feasible. And in a sense, they're correct. I do hope they're the first ones to leave this planet, though.

[Falconoffury]

The question I ask is an ethical one. Is it right for humans to colonize other planets?

My opinion is no. We have already shown on our own planet our lack of respect for resources and other forms of life. We can't be trusted to respect the resources and life of other planets.

There is another reason I bring up this topic in addition to the article I posted. I recently got a game that was made around 1990 for the computer called Master of Orion. It's a game where you command an intelligent race and expand a galactic civilization. You colonize and terraform planets, research technology, and interact with other intelligent races that you stumble upon.

[lorenzo]

Well, I bring up cornucopians, because they have a particular kind of ethics based on the notion that we can terraform and colonize Mars. Ok.

If humanity succeeds in doing this in an international, collaborative way, with the explicit goal of increasing prosperity and happiness on earth, or for the good of humanity as a whole, then why not.

If this becomes part of a capitalistic endeavor, then it's not worth it, because the logic of that system is based on looting nature in an unsustainable way for profit which goes into the pockets of a few.

[PenultimateManStanding]

Watched Apollo 13 yesterday and was reminded of those heady days of the lunar landings. One of the most successful television programs of the preceeding decade was the original Star Trek show, especially in terms of its syndication popularity and all the later spin-offs. This was a fond dream that can never come to pass. Space exploration was an expensive luxury which the US could indulge because of its vast oil reserves in the 60's. Well, we burned it up, all gone, (or just about and the clock is ticking). Dreams of terra-forming Mars are just another one of the Oil Age delusions.

[MicroHydro]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('PenultimateManStanding', 'T')his was a fond dream that can never come to pass... Dreams of terra-forming Mars are just another one of the Oil Age delusions.

[PenultimateManStanding]

My guess is that the next intelligent life form will be ants. So maybe the most prophetic movie was 'Starship Troopers' - at least on the bug side. I think your time scale is off, the Earth still has billions of years left before the sun goes nova. Much will happen but it isn't for us to know. We are finite creatures in a finite slice of time. We have witnessed amazing things that humans in the past would not have thought possible. But it was all too temporary.

[JoeW]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('PenultimateManStanding', ' ')Dreams of terra-forming Mars are just another one of the Oil Age delusions.

[PenultimateManStanding]

Forget about global warming, oil depletion, etc That's the biggie Joe! THE CORE IS SOLIDIFYING! Or how about a hypernova explosion in the nearby milky way? Massive gamma rays stripping the Earth of ozone. The sky turns brown and everything dies.

[JoeW]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('PenultimateManStanding', 'F')orget about global warming, oil depletion, etc That's the biggie Joe! THE CORE IS SOLIDIFYING! Or how about a hypernova explosion in the nearby milky way? Massive gamma rays stripping the Earth of ozone. The sky turns brown and everything dies.

[Triffin]

Shoudn't we try to terraform earth before
we try it somewhere else ??? No matter how
badly we've wrecked this planet .. It would
certainly be easier and more cost effective
to "fix" earth first ..

Triff ..

[JoeW]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Triffin', 'S')houdn't we try to terrform earth before
we try it somewhere else ??? No matter how
badly we've wrecked this planet .. It would
certainly be easier and more cost effective
to "fix" earth first ..

Triff ..

[MicroHydro]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('PenultimateManStanding', ' ')I think your time scale is off, the Earth still has billions of years left before the sun goes nova.

[PenultimateManStanding]

OK, I stand corrected. Jeez, time is so fleeting! Of course, .5 billion versus 4 billion years is totally irrelevant to us. Its only going to matter to whatever is inhabiting the Earth at the time. Let the ants fry, I say.

[MicroHydro]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('JoeW', 'I')t's not that earth needs to be fixed. It's an exponential growth problem.

[bobcousins]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('MicroHydro', 'B')ut the earth will become uninhabitable for complex life long before then. The sun gets slightly hotter over astronomical periods of time. Earth has maybe another 100 million good years somewhat as it is now, then things get a lot worse. Definitely it will be a dry hellhole like Venus within 500 million years and life will be over except maybe for bacteria deep in the crust.

[PenultimateManStanding]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('MicroHydro', '
')
I recall over 30 years ago a very moving episode of Hawaii 5-0. A biologist designed a pathogen to kill off most of humanity - because he loved the earth. It was remarkable because the scientist was not portrayed as evil or insane, he was shown to be wise, caring, and sensitive. The cops stopped him, because that was their job. But even McGarrett wondered if the scientist was right.

[Tyler_JC]

As Our Jedi Master always says, "Earth First! We can make Mars our bitch."

PS. Our Jedi Master is Aaron .

[MicroHydro]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('bobcousins', 'D')on't worry, they have a cunning plan! http://observer.guardian.co.uk/internat ... 86,00.html

[RIPSmithianEconomics]

I seriously doubt a post-peak civilization would have the energy, the resources and perhaps even the technology to colonise other worlds. If it's unfeasable with our current level of energy, how is it going to work decades from now?