In a message dated 7/24/99 1:08:09 PM, you wrote: Rik writes:
>A few mails back the (IMHO sensible) idea was mentioned
>that supersocieties have space as their living environment
>and only use planets to get building materials.
>If that is the case, why should they be in a hurry when
>they're travelling from one star to another?
I have no idea either, but I would suspect it's because of the whole "race" mentality that's been associated with space here on Earth (i.e. Apollo). I don't think the posts that cling so voraciously to nanotech (to the point of redefining what an interstellar voyage is for no sensible reason whatsoever) have much to do with aliens; instead, they're projections of what might happen to _us_. As such, they're very welcome. As applied to aliens--real _aliens_, as opposed to hypothetical creatures with peculiarly human motivations and human lifestyles--I don't find them particularly logical.
--Mac Tonnies