FWIW: that seems consistent with what every Elon expert/journo I read has been saying for years. A small, smart, capable but easily manipulated group of ideologues. More people need to understand Yarvin IMO and his ill-informed views on monarchies.
Has any member of the press even tried to contact their families? They are young, and I imagine their parents could give you some insight. They were educated at some of our most elite universities, and some of their fathers have very high level jobs.
When I started my silicon valley job ten years ago, the colonizing-mars conversation came up a lot, socially. "Hell no, I'm not going to mars!" I'd say. "I don't want to die of cosmic radiation poisoning within three years, all while never again seeing my family or a living tree."
There's a fun little book I haven't read yet by Zach and Kelly Weinersmith about how doomed of an enterprise it would be to colonize mars. It's supposed to be very funny, and devastatingly accurate to boot
Lol, that's one of the smaller problems, just live underground for rad shielding. And if you mean atmosphere stripped away if they did manage to terraform Mars, true not stable but it would take a couple of million years for the solar wind to do it
This. Although even with above ground domes, you can do stuff like having a layer of water inside the dome above the living area from melted Martian ice, and putting extra material for shielding around individual rooms and houses.
Yeah, I'm trying t give them the benefit of the doubt on how to build the industrial base on mars to get back before you go there the first time and other simpler problems.
It is good but getting this kind of good information out there reduces the likelihood that we might send Elon Musk himself to Mars which would be a great way to improve life on Earth. So don't watch this.
This is not about rationality, only about ideology. The Muskits need a "lebensraum" to rally behind and this attaches seamlessly to the "wild west conqueror" myth, which is hardwired in many US brains.
Has anyone seen discussions re: how they plan to build up the population?
Part of me suspects that their perceived role for women (baby incubators/support) and the need for a very high birthrate on Mars is part of the fantasy.
Im sure that's *exactly* it. Women, even professional scientist / astronaut women, needing to become baby factories under disaster or frontier conditions features in the sci-fi these guys like (eg Niven & Pournelle)
Imagine the departure contract/fine print for women: "acceptance of travel to Mars implies a willingness/eagerness to produce at least one offspring every 18 months." (or similar)
Would also justify violence in order to enforce quota.
I would not be surprised if they don't even know that. They think they're gonna go up there, plug in the terraform machine and wait for a society to spawn.
We know zero g is pretty bad for you long term, especially considering astronauts have been in terrific physical condition and very disciplined about exercise etc.
What we don't know yet is 1/3g on Mars. Maybe it's bad too. Original ISS plans called for a centrifuge module to test Moon gravity but killed in budget cuts, despite it probably being the single most important research you could do with a space station
Well, we’d need to be 6 months at 0G -> x months/years at 0.333G -> 6 more months at 0G.
And we don’t put people on the moon anymore.
Seems pretty stupid and reckless if you ask me! Which is why I fully support any white fascists who want to try out their perfect society to do so on Mars.
Techbros who think they know everything about everything because they think they're great programmers invariably are shitty programmers. Ask me how I know.
The toxin is in the central nervous system. The GOP majorities in House and Senate refuse to do anything; the damage spreads quickly, and the courts can only react to specific symptoms, and with some delay. It will be a struggle.
Soooo... you're suggesting that one cult is now being controlled by another cult? I've been getting creeped out on Nextdoor by a few people suggesting we bring Elon to our county to get our property taxes reduced.
Yes. This. As I watch this unfold, I keep asking myself, how is it that Thiel remains so hidden, especially after Alex Karp visibly exclaimed, on video, "We're doing it" and said "Palantir is here to disrupt". It seems like the reporters are reporting on the noise, while the deviants work the magic.
Honestly, the colonization flights to the red planet cannot start soon enough. Especially now that all safety standards for high-tech projects are being rolled back.
Comments
There's a fun little book I haven't read yet by Zach and Kelly Weinersmith about how doomed of an enterprise it would be to colonize mars. It's supposed to be very funny, and devastatingly accurate to boot
https://youtu.be/U9YdnzOf4NQ?si=SPAPceIZREeGx53T
See also ->
Part of me suspects that their perceived role for women (baby incubators/support) and the need for a very high birthrate on Mars is part of the fantasy.
IMO, a Mars one-way trip sounds horrid if female.
Would also justify violence in order to enforce quota.
And we don’t put people on the moon anymore.
Seems pretty stupid and reckless if you ask me! Which is why I fully support any white fascists who want to try out their perfect society to do so on Mars.
@zachweinersmith.bsky.social
Hard to get a sense of scale of anything right now.
It's something I've been appreciating here, knowing we don't experience algorithmic distortion (yet).
But we really need means of determining/sharing realities of scale, to your point.
But I've seen the Musk Mars Cult in person and it's literally insane.
To them, it's the FAA's fault we aren't closer to Mars. And I have no idea why that matters.