Re: Fermi Solutions Question

David Allsopp wrote:
In message <8rd5o39k9qo5sp3o5qqbfe517i5e6rqht0@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>, Jaimie Vandenbergh <jaimie@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> writes
You're correct, I'd forgotten that detail. Annoying, but not by any
means fatal to a species that can manage life support on an STL
transit to another star.

Didn't they find out that space-based habitats are non-viable? IIRC, in that universe any attempt to live in space without a Real Planet nearby eventually succumbs to depression, anomie and apathy

Seems like a pretty strange and arbitrary limitation, especially if it's supposed to apply universally across species boundaries.

An intelligent species in such a universe could set about engineering itself (whether deliberately or simply via natural selection) to be more optimistic and comfortable in space-based habitats. It's not like they'll have anything else to do with their time and resources. Alternately, if for some magical reason everyone _must_ have a large mass and lots of open air nearby, they could resort to terraforming or setting up big domes on planetary surfaces. A big dome could have a more hospitable environment than I'm living with in Canada right now.

Or, heck, just go ahead and build von Neumann probes and let them colonize the "bad" systems on our behalf. If there are sadistic space gods lurking about with gloom-rays to prevent our species from making good use of them there's no reason for us not to let the machines take a crack at it.

There's still lots of things to try before giving up and huddling on just one planet to wait for eventual extinction.
.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: Planets and Extinction Events
    ... I'm a member of the "The various factors that allowed sentient life to ... My notes on "Perfect Planet, Clever Species: ... humanity exists and if we are alone in the Universe. ...
    (rec.arts.sf.science)
  • Re: Mass Stupidity
    ... and rape the planet -- it's yours." ... One simply virus could wipe out our species. ... universe, then it would be an environment custom-tailored *for* humans. ... evidence that any greater species that we humans exist on any other planet ...
    (talk.origins)
  • Re: Mass Stupidity
    ... What's wrong with anthrocentricism? ... and rape the planet -- it's yours." ... One simply virus could wipe out our species. ... Who would be the 'center' of the universe in that case? ...
    (talk.origins)
  • Re: Most people....
    ... Lachlan - Grand Exalted Most High King and Emperor of All the Universe ... "We're the only species on the planet which currently appears to have a ...
    (uk.people.support.depression)
  • Re: Timmy, your comments please
    ... >>the universe'), physics breaks down at the moment of 'our' universe's ... knowledge in suggesting that changes in species are the result of choice ... The simple basis of his ideas on evolution can even be ... used to explain the central proposition of Darwinism, ...
    (uk.sport.football.clubs.liverpool)