Re: Archologies

Anders Sandberg (nv91-asa@nada.kth.se)
Tue, 10 Sep 1996 13:33:24 +0200 (MET DST)


On Mon, 9 Sep 1996, Chris Hind wrote:

> >ecotech,
> whats that?

A neologism for ecological engineering - designing, building and
maintaining ecological systems.

> >> I go for the solution of more space or less people.
> >> Now mile high buildings within a traditional city are another matter. That's
> >> cool! (But who will put up with a five minute elevator ride several times a
> >> day?)
> >Not to mention the pressure differentials. I really get annoyed by even
> >small changes in pressure.
> Just take a trip on the Stratusphere (sp?) in Las Vegas. I've heard your
> ears pop on the elevator's ascent.

Depends on your sensitivity. Myself, I notice the pressure difference
between my flat on the 14th floor and the ground level. One of my first
augmentations will definitely be to enlarge the channel between mouth and
ear. :-)

> >One ideal sturcture might be a superscraper city with buildings linked by
> >quick transit lines on bridges,
> Would be a cool idea to use maglev trains

Probably the simplest solution, yes.

Building this kind of super/arcology-city is probably not that hard
technically speaking (and with some advanced materials we can have real
fun - some of you might have read Forrest Bishop's and mine visions on
the transhumanist list a while back about diamondoid artificial islands
with mountain cities and peaks intended to link to beanstalks). The
problem is more economical (building new is expensive), social (make
people want to live there) and logistic (how do you administrate it? Most
of us would like to have self-organizing cities. Maybe each superbuilding
could be its own "minicity" with its own commmunity and views).

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Anders Sandberg Towards Ascension!
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