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Comment by Mystery-Machine | Hacker News Reader

So you can have the technology that allows you to comment here (Starlink), or drive home from work (GPS), or cure cancer (various ISS research), or survive as a species, or mine space rocks so we don't fight nor pollute land for some scarce resource, or inspire children to dream big, materials science, water purification/generation, satellite communication, faster travel, physics, and a few more.

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> So you can have the technology that allows you to comment here (Starlink),

People have been posting on chat / message boards for a few decades now. This is not novel. Not sure the quality of discussion has improved since the modem days (14.4k was my first).

> or drive home from work (GPS)

Tens of millions of us learned how to read maps and road signs once upon a time. You can actually fit several states' worth of maps into most car glove compartments, it is quite wild.

> or cure cancer (various ISS research)

There has been lots of cheering of all the cuts that DOGE made, including cancer and other disease related research and prevention, so this seems a rather moot point.

> survive as a species

Oh yes! First crewed mission to mars according to Musk is just what, 3 years away now?

Or just more people being exposed to the blue marble effect the better.

I don't think being able to comment here is that valuable, GPS is fine but so were maps, curing cancer won't save anyone from dying anyway, surviving as a species is useless for an individual, mining space rocks won't stop fighting or polluting, I don't see how any of this would inspire children, etc etc. The answer should be obvious and easy to muster, instead we have to dig hard to come up with vague possibilities. That should tell you something.

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