From: asa@nada.kth.se
Date: Mon Aug 18 2003 - 16:16:37 MDT
>
> On Mon, 18 Aug 2003 asa@nada.kth.se wrote:
>
>> Why go to Middle Earth when there is another Earth? :-)
>
> There are two very easy answers to that question.
>
> First, there is no "magic" on Mars (at least to my knowledge) --
> i.e. no "one ring".
But there are rumours that there exists a backdoor or exploit in all the
Red Era nanotech that would give the wielder power over the solettas, the
Marinovska plants, the unageing nanoists - everything. It is said to have
been compiled on top of Pavonis Mons by the Chief Areologist but was lost
after the Battle of Tharsis when rouge memeticists ambushed the bearer
somewhere along Coprates Chasma :-)
> As much as I admire the landscapes of Mars -- they do not
> produce the emotional attachments that Middle Earth does.
That is an interesting issue. Could it be that we have terrestrial
landforms so strongly imprinted in our brains that we won't perceive
grandeur (beyond the initial wow!) in an alien landscape? Maybe it is true
for us, but I would be surprised if Mars-born children saw it the same way
("Earth mountains are so *squat*! And that horrible blue sky color!")
Brains are plastic.
> (Seriously Anders, now that you have resolved the issue of a PhD,
> the next question becomes *when* will Anders get a girlfriend,
> a boyfriend, or *something* other than the "landscapes" of Mars?).
The real answer is of course that my SO at any moment is my current
project. Right now it is martian landscapes, a few weeks back it was
minimal surfaces and in a few weeks it could be astrobiology. I like to
play the field.
> With respect to Mars, you will have to up the emotional significance --
> otherwise its on the "to-do" list for dismantlement. (Computational
> usefullness trumps how "pretty" it may be -- we can *always* construct
> things much prettier (in virtual or "real" reality)).
In my setting, there was actually a political conflict between the
terraformers and Dysonistas about the division of the mass and energy of
the solar system. In the end the Cruithne Accords of 2136 (attached below)
settled the issue (most ended up in the Dyson of course).
In reality the issue will decided by the speed things go software after
large-scale space colonisation occurs. If the Introdus begins early there
will not be many who have formed strong emotional ties to Mars (and humans
form emotional ties to *anything* they are close to for more than a few
minutes ;-) and few will object to optimizing things. If the Introdus is
late, then there will be people opposing dismantling of their
"homeworlds", and much will depend on respect for property rights and
relative willingness to compromise. The accords below might actually be a
good example of such a compromise. It is not unlikely that the posthumans
were thinking long term here: sooner or later the Homo sapiens cultures
would come around anyway, and then dismantling could be done with no
quarrels. They can wait for total optimization a few millennia.
The Cruithne Accord
1. Earth and Mars, with their respective natural satellite systems and
space within these systems out to their L2 points, are entitled to 1400
and 606 W/m^2 respectively (99% of natural solar output as measured June
2136) or enough augmented solar input necessary to keep their climate
within the standard parameters of the 2120-2136 period, whichever is the
largest. The spectral characteristic of the solar radiation is not to
deviate markedly from a stellar blackbody spectrum. Other regions of the
solar system are left open to exploitation.
2. All polities outside the Dyson sphere are entitled to a hemispherical
4K sky entropy sink and no more entropy influx than the June 2136 standard
sun.
3. The resources of the Earth and Mars systems are left under control of
their local polities (the NEO Adhoc and UN of Earth, MTN of Mars) or
successor polities to these.
4. The Mars system polity is acknowledged as owner of current MTN mining
outposts, the bodies they are located on and masses in transit from and to
these, as well as an additional 1e23 kg of mass from as yet unallocated
mass.
5. The Earth system is acknowledged as owner of current mining outposts
based on Earth or NEO economies, the bodies they are located on and masses
in transit from and to these, as well as an additional 1e23 kg of mass
from as yet unallocated mass.
6. The Dyson community is acknowledged as owner of currently designated
Dyson or Trophe-Posthuman habitats and systems, the bodies they are
located on and masses in transit from and to these.
7. Unallocated mass and energy beyond these accords are to be distributed
by a first-come-first-served basis according to the Revised Outer Space
Treaty of 2104.
8. The use of autonomously self-replicating non-citizen systems that can
survive in free space is prohibited.
9. If a conflict about these resources, the proper division of a multiply
colonised body or the proper interpretation of these accords occurs, all
parties defer to the reconvention of the Cruithne Summit or delegate
authority.
Note: The Cruithne Accord process delegated a body allocation court to
settle the issues related to the Jupiter moons, Juno and WK3934. The body
allocation court formally remains in service for the future located at
Cruithne.
Signatories
Melissa Meloria, Dyson Core Entelechy (representing 455 Structured
Interests and ratified by Main Cluster policy future market to p=1e-13)
Fredrik Hendrich Kefke, Maria Gonzales Riviera Cardaz, Leo Feng-Yodrowski,
Demarchs of the NEO Adhoc
Chief Project Administrator Liu Than, Martian Terraforming Network
Chairman-General Ali Loftus Hendrix of the United Nations
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