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Would You Go?

by lanfear63
28 replies
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You are old, but in a fit state of mind and body. Unfortunately you have outlived all your friends and family, wife, husband etc. Basically, you are on your own.

A government agency approaches you and asks if you would like to go on a spacecraft they had developed that travels at the speed of light. You would be in suspended animation for 8 years to get to a planet around another star that shows promising signs that it could be habitable by humans, being the same size of Earth and having an atmosphere similar.

The agency wants a wide range of age groups to go (for some reason)

If you go and the planet is habitable, you would stay there till your demise. If not, it would come back to Earth and you would sleep for another 8 years on the way. (you would not age during this process either way) Due to time dilation it would be hundreds of years in Earths future. So, an unknown in either destination.

So, would you go, would you be interested in spending the last few years of your biological life going on a great and pioneering adventure, or would you still be too attached to the trappings of the sights, sounds and experiences on current Earth (and couches) and say no.
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  • Profile picture of the author Odahh
    No.

    At most if we built habitat in space with sufficient artificial gravity. I live in those.

    But planet wise this is probably the only one humans can live on. And as comfortable as we are now.even this planet is constantly figuring out ways to kill us.

    This planet is the only one we can live on .
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  • Profile picture of the author Frank Donovan
    Originally Posted by lanfear63 View Post

    A government agency approaches you ...
    What could possibly go wrong?
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  • Profile picture of the author Dan Riffle
    Maybe. But I certainly know a few people I would volunteer.
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  • Profile picture of the author tagiscom
    Originally Posted by lanfear63 View Post

    You are old, but in a fit state of mind and body. Unfortunately you have outlived all your friends and family, wife, husband etc. Basically, you are on your own.

    A government agency approaches you and asks if you would like to go on an spacecraft they had developed that travels at the speed of light. You would be in suspended animation for 8 years to get to a planet around another star that shows promising signs that it could be habitable by humans, being the same size of Earth and having an atmosphere similar.

    The agency wants a wide range of age groups to go (for some reason)

    If you go and the planet is habitable, you would stay there till your demise. If not, it would come back to Earth and you would sleep for another 8 years on the way. (you would not age during this process either way) Due to time dilation it would be hundreds of years in Earths future. So, an unknown in either destination.

    So, would you go, would you be interested in spending the last few years of your biological life going on a great and pioneering adventure, or would you still be too attached to the trappings of the sights, sounds and experiences on current Earth (and couches) and say no.
    I am half way through Howard the Duck and you ask me that!
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    • Profile picture of the author discrat
      I see you are up to your old antics again .
      Is retired life this boring for you ?!
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    • Profile picture of the author Princess Balestra
      Originally Posted by tagiscom View Post

      I am half way through Howard the Duck and you ask me that!
      Beak or poopah?

      Sahhhry to be so desprit curious.
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  • Profile picture of the author Princess Balestra
    Thing is, there'n always ways to scale yr plights/hopes offa the scale for benefit of nowan othah than yusself.

    I believe Gahd, Satan, an' mebbe jus' the regulah motion of the planits, gaht mosta this schwango in their schemes -- an' we are free always to eithah engage or ignore.

    Thing I always ask musself is ...

    could I possibly imagine sumthin' at least 0.001% bettah?

    Most times, if'n you sit quiet for a moment , you can best out most any sityooayshwaahn this way.

    How do I know this?

    Bcs'n my bra collection maxes out on comfort an' verve without bein' overly provocative or scarrin' my tits forevah with no kinda "monthly pyrotechnics plan".
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  • Profile picture of the author Claude Whitacre
    Originally Posted by lanfear63 View Post


    A government agency approaches you and asks if you would like to go on an spacecraft they had developed that travels at the speed of light. You would be in suspended animation for 8 years to get to a planet around another star that shows promising signs that it could be habitable by humans, being the same size of Earth and having an atmosphere similar.
    Let's think about this a minute.

    If the planet has a breathable atmosphere, it means there is life there (Oxygen is a waste product of plant life). If there is life there, we would have no defense against microbes, spores, bacteria that we have no immunity to.

    And everything has to work perfectly. The spaceship has no problems. Hibernation works perfectly. The atmosphere has to be a perfect match, as does the temperature, air pressure, water supply, food supply (are the plants edible?)



    Originally Posted by lanfear63 View Post

    So, would you go, would you be interested in spending the last few years of your biological life going on a great and pioneering adventure, or would you still be too attached to the trappings of the sights, sounds and experiences on current Earth (and couches) and say no.
    It's not that I'm attached to my surroundings. It's that I have nothing I feel I need to escape from. There are great adventures to be had here.

    And traveling to the far future (assuming you returned)?

    Now you're a person that has no value in the world. You have no knowledge, no real capacity to learn like a child. You would end up dependent on others to take care of you.

    By the way, if you are unhappy here, changing your location doesn't turn you into a happy person.

    We have problems here. But going to another planet just vastly multiplies those problems, not solves them.

    On Earth, I'm a pompous ass with delusions of grandeur. On a different planet, I'd be a pompous ass with delusions of grandeur......on a planet that wants to kill me.
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  • Profile picture of the author max5ty
    Originally Posted by lanfear63 View Post

    You would be in suspended animation for 8 years to get to a planet around another star...
    Will we be able to stop for bathroom breaks?

    ...because I get asked that on a 1 hour trip to Toledo...
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  • Profile picture of the author Odahh
    This was a prospect in the past when the problem was exponential population growth with potential over crowding.

    But we solved that by education of women who then have fewer children and moving large parts of the population into cities with living space that isn't sufficient to raise many children. And generally long work hours for working couples.

    Besides the virus and microbial issues Claude mentioned the foods we aeat The results of tens of thousands of years of selective breeding and domestation of a small number of a vast amount of animals and plants.

    So the logistics of growing food and feeding yourself and building proper shelter and power water and air.

    Even shelter in space will probably take a form like a Borge cube or sphere
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  • Profile picture of the author discrat
    Originally Posted by lanfear63 View Post

    So, would you go, would you be interested in spending the last few years of your biological life going on a great and pioneering adventure, or would you still be too attached to the trappings of the sights, sounds and experiences on current Earth (and couches) and say no.
    Do you really need to even ask the question in my case??

    ...Get me a beer and pass the remote
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    • Profile picture of the author lanfear63
      Originally Posted by discrat View Post

      Do you really need to even ask the question in my case??

      ...Get me a beer and pass the remote
      Ahh, so you would definitely go if you could bring your couch with you and unlimited beer and tv.

      I had a thought (yes, amazing I know) As you reach the end of your journey, you are greeted by other humans already there because due to the time passed relative to you, great advances had been made and and faster than light travel had been achieved. Perhaps the planet is terraformed or in the process. Perhaps you could be offered advanced medicine to keep you going for centuries, even reverse your ageing. Another interesting prospect.
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      • Profile picture of the author discrat
        Originally Posted by lanfear63 View Post

        Ahh, so you would definitely go if you could bring your couch with you and unlimited beer and tv.
        I did not say that! Not at all !!! Rather, I would go if I could bring my lazyboy recliner
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        • Profile picture of the author lanfear63
          Originally Posted by discrat View Post

          I did not say that! Not at all !!! Rather, I would go if I could bring my lazyboy recliner
          Ah, so it just comes down to the recliner. You will be added to the list for later.
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  • Profile picture of the author Kay King
    ...because I get asked that on a 1 hour trip to Toledo...

    That is just to put off getting to Toledo.
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    • Profile picture of the author max5ty
      Originally Posted by Kay King View Post

      That is just to put off getting to Toledo.
      Lol...that could be part of it...

      but for my 2 granddaughters, I think it's more of a case of wanting to raid the vending machines at the rest area.
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      • Profile picture of the author DWolfe
        Originally Posted by max5ty View Post

        , I think it's more of a case of wanting to raid the vending machines at the rest area.
        I see nothing wrong with that at all ;>) Someone writing this may have or may not have done that as an adult.
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  • Profile picture of the author tagiscom
    Originally Posted by Princess Balestra View Post

    Beak or poopah?

    Sahhhry to be so desprit curious.
    Oooook.

    Originally Posted by Claude Whitacre View Post

    Let's think about this a minute.

    If the planet has a breathable atmosphere, it means there is life there (Oxygen is a waste product of plant life). If there is life there, we would have no defense against microbes, spores, bacteria that we have no immunity to.

    On Earth, I'm a pompous ass with delusions of grandeur. On a different planet, I'd be a pompous ass with delusions of grandeur......on a planet that wants to kill me.
    Remember Riddick, crashed on a dead planet with low Oxygen and they did pretty well apart from the flying evil creature thing.

    You can always bring your pompous ass with delusions of grandeur recliner chair.

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    • Profile picture of the author Odahh
      Originally Posted by tagiscom View Post

      Oooook.



      Remember Riddick, crashed on a dead planet with low Oxygen and they did pretty well apart from the flying evil creature thing.

      You can always bring your pompous ass with delusions of grandeur recliner chair.
      Hollywood do you know how many things Hollywood movies get wrong when portraying earth modern and the past.


      Space sci-fi is even worse
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      • Profile picture of the author tagiscom
        Originally Posted by Odahh View Post

        Hollywood do you know how many things Hollywood movies get wrong when portraying earth modern and the past.

        Space sci-fi is even worse
        If all plants disappeared, it would take several hundred years for enough CO2 to build up enough to suffocate most life on the planet (there is some disagreement on how long this would take.Google quote
        So every 15 years, (can't find the movie reference) those flying lifeforms go on a planet wide binge and eat and destroy everything moving or living it would be a stepping stone slide into destruction.

        I know with Star wars having sounds in space and Howard the Duck flying through space and landing in Manhattan in one piece is silly but l believe in this case it is a valid point.
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        • Profile picture of the author Odahh
          Originally Posted by tagiscom View Post

          So every 15 years, (can't find the movie reference) those flying lifeforms go on a planet wide binge and eat and destroy everything moving or living it would be a stepping stone slide into destruction.

          I know with Star wars having sounds in space and Howard the Duck flying through space and landing in Manhattan in one piece is silly but l believe in this case it is a valid point.
          The great part about fiction is its fictional easy to imagine but also understand it doesn't really happen.

          Though some things do get inspired bye fiction and turned into reality by brilliant human.

          Much of the stuff happening now because of multiple technology advances has almost no mention in fiction. Or science fiction.
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        • Profile picture of the author Claude Whitacre
          You quoted this......
          Originally Posted by tagiscom View Post

          If all plants disappeared, it would take several hundred years for enough CO2 to build up enough to suffocate most life on the planet (there is some disagreement on how long this would take. Google quote
          But that's a nonsensical argument. Whatever killed all the plants would have killed us as well. And even if some of us survive the complete destruction of all plant life.....we would starve within one generation.

          And think about trying to plant seeds on other planets. Unless there is already plant life there, there is no soil. Soil is actually old dead plant and animal life.

          It took billions of years for the algae on Earth to eat the methane and give off enough Oxygen for any animals to breath...even insects. Soil has to be created, it doesn't exist in a sterile environment.

          As fun as it is to think about living on another planet, this is where we evolved, and we are matched to this planet's atmosphere, gravity, air pressure, temperatures and plant life. Even the 24 hour day and seasons. We didn't find this planet. This planet produced us.
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          • Profile picture of the author discrat
            Claude you guys are talking above my comprehension. Iam just a simple guy who cannot fathom this kind of complex discussions you all are having.

            Dumb it down for me lol
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            • Profile picture of the author Odahh
              Originally Posted by discrat View Post

              Claude you guys are talking above my comprehension. Iam just a simple guy who cannot fathom this kind of complex discussions you all are having.

              Dumb it down for me lol
              We really should stop messing the planet we live on up there is no where else for us to go.

              Unless of course we create the technology that allows us to move to other more pristine earths . Far less resource intensive than traveling into space then light years away from earth.
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          • Profile picture of the author tagiscom
            Originally Posted by Claude Whitacre View Post

            You quoted this......

            But that's a nonsensical argument. Whatever killed all the plants would have killed us as well. And even if some of us survive the complete destruction of all plant life.....we would starve within one generation.
            I would say that you are taking this out of context, l was referring to going from one planet to another and the other has less oxygen, and we could adapt to that as sherpers climbing Mount Everest don't need oxygen tanks, (33% less oxygen)) have adapted.

            As for the destruction thing we would only need a reliable power source to keep the lights on for a few years, (grow crops, etc) to survive, which is never a good thing but it would work for a while.

            Funny this is they covered this in the TIme Machine 1966 movie or humanity split in two one living underground and the other on the surface even though the machines that created the oxygen were failing.


            And think about trying to plant seeds on other planets. Unless there is already plant life there, there is no soil. Soil is actually old dead plant and animal life.
            I dunno Mars has neutral orgainic soil (going with the standard model) which could grow stuff, given rain and oxygen.

            It took billions of years for the algae on Earth to eat the methane and give off enough Oxygen for any animals to breath...even insects. Soil has to be created, it doesn't exist in a sterile environment.

            As fun as it is to think about living on another planet, this is where we evolved, and we are matched to this planet's atmosphere, gravity, air pressure, temperatures and plant life. Even the 24 hour day and seasons. We didn't find this planet. This planet produced us.
            We can adapt elsewhere but there are limits.
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  • Profile picture of the author Monetize
    Originally Posted by lanfear63 View Post

    You are old, but in a fit state of mind and body. Unfortunately you have outlived all your friends and family, wife, husband etc. Basically, you are on your own.

    A government agency approaches you and asks if you would like to go on an spacecraft they had developed that travels at the speed of light. You would be in suspended animation for 8 years to get to a planet around another star that shows promising signs that it could be habitable by humans, being the same size of Earth and having an atmosphere similar.

    The agency wants a wide range of age groups to go (for some reason)

    If you go and the planet is habitable, you would stay there till your demise. If not, it would come back to Earth and you would sleep for another 8 years on the way. (you would not age during this process either way) Due to time dilation it would be hundreds of years in Earths future. So, an unknown in either destination.

    So, would you go, would you be interested in spending the last few years of your biological life going on a great and pioneering adventure, or would you still be too attached to the trappings of the sights, sounds and experiences on current Earth (and couches) and say no.

    No.

    I'm not going on any government agency trips to outer space.

    I can sleep right here on planet Earth and my life is fine.

    At the rate things are going, I'm not interested in seeing Earth's future either.

    I'm pretty sure it will be a dystopian trash heap.
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  • Profile picture of the author Odahh
    Shane

    If humans adapt to another planet the probability is they might just not be humans anymore after the adaptation.

    Humans adapted because of how our prehuman species used technology from stone tools to fermented food. To fire and basic food cultivation probably tubers.

    With the technologies we are bringing in know it's probably humans will see rapid evolution. As we integrate technology into our biology. As we possibly double the lifespan again or more using technology to enhance the bodies ability to replicate. And all of the nutrition knowledge for life enhancement we are getting today.

    We might put habitable structure on mar but most likely in a hundred years humanly will at best be building habitat in space that requires no adaptations.

    One humans do that and can spread to the rest of the the solar system doing that. We really won't want to go through the expenses and effort of settling on planets or the long process of terra forming.
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  • Profile picture of the author spartan14
    Na i would probably prefer to stay on the couch and enjoy my last years watching movies etc .Unless if the mision has something more interesting for me like the posibility to go younger again etc
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