From: Chad Perrin <perrin@...>
Date: 2009-04-11T09:46:32+09:00
Subject: Re: Goodbye Ruby - Hello Earth

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On Sat, Apr 11, 2009 at 12:42:06AM +0900, Bill Kelly wrote:
>=20
> But i don't find romantic notions about saving the planet
> from annihilation to be helpful.
>=20
> To me, the question is better framed in terms of how long
> homo sapiens are planning to be around.  Less than a billion
> years?  Or more than a billion years?
>=20
> If less, well, then we can solve ALL of the problems=20
> mentioned by Christophe in one generation.  Stop having kids.
> But that still won't save the planet from annihilation.
>=20
> If we're planning to be around more than a billion years,
> then at some point we'll be deciding which (remaining)
> species to bring with us as we colonize the galaxy.
>=20
> In the meantime, I agree there are strong indicators we
> need to become better custodians of our planet's environment
> and resources than we have been recently.  Or we won't last
> long enough to build the space ships.

Attempts to "save" the planet might actually be successful past a billion
years.  The technological singularity is predicted within the next thirty
or forty years, roughly (estimates vary).  Who knows what we might learn
in a post-singularity world?  We might even be able to weather the Sun's
senility without having to go anywhere.  Maybe we'll find a way to make
life *better*, thanks to the abundant energy arriving from that nuclear
furnace in the sky.

=2E . . but we won't be able to do so if we abandon computers in favor of
highly systematized dirt farming.

Whether we save the planet or emigrate, we're going to need computers to
get there.

--=20
Chad Perrin [ original content licensed OWL: http://owl.apotheon.org ]
Quoth Anne McClintock, University of Wisconsin: "The decisions that
really matter are made outside the democratic process."

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