Leaving aside what I consider the highly dubious idea that divergent civilizations in space will necessarily be locked in a perpetual Hobbesian struggle, I don't think the article made much of a...
Leaving aside what I consider the highly dubious idea that divergent civilizations in space will necessarily be locked in a perpetual Hobbesian struggle, I don't think the article made much of a case for why the same wouldn't be true on Earth. Any balkanization/speciation of humanity is going to happen here first, since it's going to be done with technology and not be a result of natural selection, and there's a lot more potential for human extinction when we're all confined to the same biosphere than when we're not. All it takes is a couple artificial plagues, a more likely prospect if you have the possibility of keying immunity for your genetically engineered subspecies, and it's curtains for humanity.
He makes the argument that peace can't be enforced top down by a unified state because the vast distances of space make the projection of power completely impractical. By that same reasoning...
He makes the argument that peace can't be enforced top down by a unified state because the vast distances of space make the projection of power completely impractical. By that same reasoning making attacks across those distances are also impractical.
to be fair, with the distances involved, its a lot easier to launch an indiscriminate attack than a law enforcement force. slinging small moons or asteriods that will arrive 'eventually' is easier...
to be fair, with the distances involved, its a lot easier to launch an indiscriminate attack than a law enforcement force. slinging small moons or asteriods that will arrive 'eventually' is easier than getting a peackeeping force to a rebelling planet in time.
I don't see why the diversification of the human species through evolution and technological modification is portrayed as a bad thing. If the goal was just to preserve human survival we could just...
I don't see why the diversification of the human species through evolution and technological modification is portrayed as a bad thing. If the goal was just to preserve human survival we could just lock a bunch of humans in some underground bunker run by an AI. I would imagine that many of the people who support human space colonization would also support concepts like transhumanism and would love the idea of a future where humankind evolved into multiple separate species.
And I really doubt that intelligent species that are all offshoots of humanity wouldn't be able to communicate or make peace.
Leaving aside what I consider the highly dubious idea that divergent civilizations in space will necessarily be locked in a perpetual Hobbesian struggle, I don't think the article made much of a case for why the same wouldn't be true on Earth. Any balkanization/speciation of humanity is going to happen here first, since it's going to be done with technology and not be a result of natural selection, and there's a lot more potential for human extinction when we're all confined to the same biosphere than when we're not. All it takes is a couple artificial plagues, a more likely prospect if you have the possibility of keying immunity for your genetically engineered subspecies, and it's curtains for humanity.
He makes the argument that peace can't be enforced top down by a unified state because the vast distances of space make the projection of power completely impractical. By that same reasoning making attacks across those distances are also impractical.
to be fair, with the distances involved, its a lot easier to launch an indiscriminate attack than a law enforcement force. slinging small moons or asteriods that will arrive 'eventually' is easier than getting a peackeeping force to a rebelling planet in time.
I don't see why the diversification of the human species through evolution and technological modification is portrayed as a bad thing. If the goal was just to preserve human survival we could just lock a bunch of humans in some underground bunker run by an AI. I would imagine that many of the people who support human space colonization would also support concepts like transhumanism and would love the idea of a future where humankind evolved into multiple separate species.
And I really doubt that intelligent species that are all offshoots of humanity wouldn't be able to communicate or make peace.