johnp299

johnp299 t1_jdwiz9d wrote

If fusion is ever tamed, it would likely make Dyson spheres moot or shrink the dynamic. Stars are convenient energy sources because they already exist, but their power density is low. Fusion power would have much greater power density, opening the possibility for a self-sufficient Dyson-esque "town."

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johnp299 t1_j9th5q9 wrote

When a person is overwhelmed with emotions, fear, anger, their own safety and the safety of others can be at risk. I'm not saying get rid of emotions entirely. But the human brain can be so dominated by emotions at times that it screws everything else up. 100,000 years ago, it wasn't so terrible if someone flipped out. But now, with everything from guns to nukes at our disposal, it's a different story. The structure of the brain is an impediment to progress.

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johnp299 t1_j9rt618 wrote

It should be possible eventually to choose mental abilities for offspring including IQ, musical ability, and other traits. Further down the road, a redesign of the human brain might strengthen areas responsible for intelligence, memory and cooperation and make emotions, tribalism and other parts less dominant.

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johnp299 t1_j6d8t67 wrote

A writing buddy once looked at my lack of respect for the 3 Laws with great concern. The Laws were invented by editor John Campbell (so the story goes) to add interest to the robot fiction. The big problem is, robots will take over at some point as soldiers and cops, and some level of harm or deadly force is probably necessary.

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johnp299 t1_j60bj89 wrote

If I have money, I can have robots that build things for low cost.

If I don't, and someone else has robots that build low cost things, how do I get those things from them? Will they simply give them away? Will the government force them? What if they simply want to keep the robots and the many houses for themselves, and their own family & friends?

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johnp299 t1_j5yq7p5 wrote

Hah, nope.

Homeownership will be under 1%, thanks to rampant unemployment from AI and robotics. Conservative gov't will step in only to head off mass starvation. Waiting list for barebones government housing will be very long. Wealthy will employ a few thousand as personal assistants. Most resort to begging, selling food/trinkets on the street.

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johnp299 t1_j22dfwf wrote

There are psychological considerations way over my pay grade, but even with the most chill cooperative people, conflicts arise, fights break out, factions form. When you're a billion miles from the nearest police station, shit is gonna happen. People from any given current society might be wholly unsuitable because their entire worldview has a foundation unlike what you'd have in a spacefaring colony. You might have to create an isolated society, kick it off on Earth or nearby, and watch how they do before sending them off. I think, even a Mars colony is going to be very tricky for this reason. Everyone here is used to a stable society with a more-or-less reliable police force/medical establishment for the difficult edge cases.

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johnp299 t1_j1qgnqr wrote

About 100K people work at Tesla. If something happened to Musk, they'd be OK. Apple fired Steve Jobs in the 80s, then got him back years later. Whatever works, man.

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