The Age Of Nations Isn’t Over

Jeff Brooks has an intriguing, but I think fundamentally flawed idea: to set up an international organization to manage Martian land sales.

I’m all in favor of granting title rights off planet, and agree that it could provide a useful mechanism to raise private funds for planetary exploration, but I’m afraid that a transnationalist approach is doomed to failure. Better to simply amend the OST (or withdraw, failing that) and allow sovereignty claims (in fact the treaty could come up with a way to equitably distribute the claims). But I wouldn’t trust an international organization to safeguard my civil or property rights, given the nature of the international community.

The Age Of Nations Isn’t Over

Jeff Brooks has an intriguing, but I think fundamentally flawed idea: to set up an international organization to manage Martian land sales.

I’m all in favor of granting title rights off planet, and agree that it could provide a useful mechanism to raise private funds for planetary exploration, but I’m afraid that a transnationalist approach is doomed to failure. Better to simply amend the OST (or withdraw, failing that) and allow sovereignty claims (in fact the treaty could come up with a way to equitably distribute the claims). But I wouldn’t trust an international organization to safeguard my civil or property rights, given the nature of the international community.

The Age Of Nations Isn’t Over

Jeff Brooks has an intriguing, but I think fundamentally flawed idea: to set up an international organization to manage Martian land sales.

I’m all in favor of granting title rights off planet, and agree that it could provide a useful mechanism to raise private funds for planetary exploration, but I’m afraid that a transnationalist approach is doomed to failure. Better to simply amend the OST (or withdraw, failing that) and allow sovereignty claims (in fact the treaty could come up with a way to equitably distribute the claims). But I wouldn’t trust an international organization to safeguard my civil or property rights, given the nature of the international community.

Don’t Settle

In fact, US Air should not only not settle, they should countersue against these people for (probably deliberately, based on most accounts) terrorizing the passengers and disrupting service. I’d be happy to even contribute to a legal fund for it. In fact, it would be a good idea to set up a fund and get all the airlines to contribute to it, because US Air is waging this battle for the whole industry.

Don’t Settle

In fact, US Air should not only not settle, they should countersue against these people for (probably deliberately, based on most accounts) terrorizing the passengers and disrupting service. I’d be happy to even contribute to a legal fund for it. In fact, it would be a good idea to set up a fund and get all the airlines to contribute to it, because US Air is waging this battle for the whole industry.

Don’t Settle

In fact, US Air should not only not settle, they should countersue against these people for (probably deliberately, based on most accounts) terrorizing the passengers and disrupting service. I’d be happy to even contribute to a legal fund for it. In fact, it would be a good idea to set up a fund and get all the airlines to contribute to it, because US Air is waging this battle for the whole industry.

An Interview With Elon

Here’s a piece from yesterday’s Mercury News. He’s not a pure investor. It’s part philanthropy:

I think the probability of humanity living longer is greater if we’re a multi-planet species. I think that’s fairly obvious. But I’m also quite optimistic about Earth. I don’t think Earth is in any danger of imminent demise. I think we will solve the problems that we have before us, and that humanity will probably live for a very long time.

But there’s always a chance that it could end. That’s why people buy life insurance. They don’t expect to drop dead tomorrow. Or car insurance. You don’t expect to T-bone your car into a semi. But you might. That’s why I’m a big believer in space exploration.

For me, space exploration is actually more interesting for positive reasons. I think humanity will be far more interesting and richer and diverse and just the future will be much more exciting and interesting if we are a space-faring civilization that is expanding among the stars than if we’re forever on Earth.

That’s the attitude I’d have if I had his kind of money.

Next Stop, Telepathy?

The Economist has an interesting survey on the future of the phone.

I’m not an early adaptor, and unlike the younger generation, I don’t live with my cell phone–it’s not an intimate and essential part of my life. I often forget to take it when I leave the house. Of course, this may be less a generational thing than the fact that I work mostly from home. When I’m traveling, I’m much more careful to keep it handy. But I wonder how many of these new developments won’t be picked up by older generations unused to them?

It’s also going to be a strange world, when most people are walking around seemingly talking to themselves like schizophrenics. We can still tell today because of the earpieces, but once they get smaller, or embedded in the body, it’s going to be a lot harder for shrinks to tell the difference between people with imaginary voices in their head, and real ones.

[Update late morning]

I’m guessing from comments that my humor was a little too subtle today.

Biting Commentary about Infinity…and Beyond!