Comment by dylan604 | Hacker News Reader

Comment by dylan604 | Hacker News Reader

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I've been doing a compare&contrast to SpaceX colonies on Mars vs 15th century colonies to the new world.

Travel time to "home" seems close enough in terms of months long voyages. Haven't decided which journey is the more treacherous option.

The 15th century colonists came to a place that was resource rich in whatever a colony could need: food, water, building material, etc. Martian colonists will not have that luxury.

New world colonists faced an indigenous poplulation that Martian colonists won't have. Probably a good thing, as the examples provided by the new world colonists on how to interact with indeginous people does not bode well (at least for those who continued to follow).

Communication time back to home is actually in the Martian colonist's favor. As is the fact the area will have been surveyed quite exetensively in advance of arrival, so preparations can be better made with that knowledge. Full detailed maps will be available as well. This will help finding more barren wasteland even easier than just wandering around looking for barren wasetland. Effeciency will be key with the constrained resources.

> The 15th century colonists came to a place that was resource rich in whatever a colony could need: food, water, building material, etc. Martian colonists will not have that luxury.

But this is the key point: there were plenty of desirable things in the Americas. There is absolutely nothing of any value whatsoever on Mars that can't be found much, much more easily on Earth.

The adventure and freedom to shape a new society (relatively) free from historical constraints might be valuable in itself for some people. I might be interested, but the quality of life and size of closed system habitats would need to improve by a large factor compared to what exists currently.

Also, alien artifacts.

>Also, alien artifacts.

Indigenous people artifacts. Let's not be rude. ;-)

>There is absolutely nothing of any value whatsoever on Mars that can't be found much, much more easily on Earth.

Ungoverned land.

That's anti-value: it is much harder to live in ungoverned land than decently governed land. If you're fleeing North Korea, you'll flee to China or South Korea, not to an anarchy.

Indigenous North Americans were very helpful in a lot of circumstances for the colonists.

(at least for those who followed).

Once the powers that be regarding the colonists realized ownership issues were going to be had with the indigenous population, those relationships didn't go so well though. that's what I meant by those who followed. "Hi, here's a lovely friendship blanket" doesn't speak well for relationships with those indigenous people.

Despite north america being much more hospitable, plenty of people died in north american colonies. Will modern humans be willing to pay that price?

Many will if the rest let them.

Is this a rhetorical question? Of course millions would gladly die as space colonizers.

I’m not sure what the intersection is of people (1) rich enough to do this, (2) willing to slum it in a tin can where none of the wealth they’ve accumulated thus far would even let them retire because the entire economy has to be constructed ex nihilo first, (3) have nobody binding them to Earth, either because they don’t exist or because they came with them to Mars, (4) is not too anti-social to function despite #3.

Don’t get me wrong, when Musk first announced this I was very interested, and could just about afford the target price. But then I tried a much more minor relocation — Cambridge to Berlin — and found myself much lonlier than I’d been primed to expect by my experience moving to Cambridge in the first place after I graduated.

It might be fine, I just wouldn’t assume that now.

The uber rich person doesn't necessarily have to be one that goes. It just so happens this one wants to. Some uber rich person could see it as just another way to generate money, so funds the endeavor while spending those earnings on terrafirma.

Its one thing for people to say they will, its another for them to actually do it.

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