From: detritus@ix.netcom.com   
      
   flipper wrote:   
      
   > On Fri, 08 Jul 2011 12:18:32 -0400, Don    
   > wrote:   
   >   
   > >In article <4E161353.D7FC0919@ix.netcom.com>, detritus@ix.netcom.com   
   > >(LV)says...   
   > >You think that the glob you're standing on is the only   
   > >game in town, that there's only one pie and the more   
   > >humans there are, the smaller everyone's slice will   
   > >be.   
   > >   
   > >Nonsense.   
   > >   
   > >There are quadrillions of tonnes of resources in just   
   > >our own solar system.  The amount available in just   
   > >our own galaxy is so huge there is probably no way   
   > >to even estimate it.  And there are trillions of galaxies.   
   > >But no - ecotards are content to sit crying in their   
   > >beer (oops...make that recycled filtered piss) about   
   > >how we're running out of everything.   
   > >   
   > >LV, I think you have too many science fiction novels.   
   > >Let me know when the UFO's land.   
   > >   
   >   
   > Pardon me but observing there is a whole universe out there has   
   > nothing to do with postulating 'space aliens'.   
      
   The Fermi Parodox aside, it's hard to imagine that there *aren't*, given   
   the sheer numbers of stars in the universe.   
      
   Whether we have anything they want is another   
   story, as is whether there is any way to visit or   
   even communicate with any of them.  There are   
   hints (small, but real) that some sort of "warp   
   drive" may be possible.  "First contact" would   
   be a society-shattering event; there are protocols   
   in place at the UN for this, and probably also in   
   every technologically advanced nation.  Hell,   
   Las Vegas outfits have odds for first contact,   
   and will take bets on it.  (So far, the house is   
   making out like a bandit.  ;-)  I'm not holding   
   my breath, though.   
      
   > LV may be looking a little farther into the future but the gist is   
   > correct. There is no "fixed pie" unless you stop baking them.   
   >   
   > While tempting, the 'fixed pie' analogy doesn't work even if one   
   > restricts themselves to 'just earth' because it presumes, as Malthus   
   > did, that everything is done exactly the same way forever but that has   
   > been proven wrong so many times it isn't even funny anymore.   
   >   
   > Malthus was predicting mass starvation but virtually nothing is done   
   > the way he presumed. We don't farm like before. Processing is   
   > infinitely more efficient than before. We don't pack and ship like   
   > before. Food doesn't spoil like before. And we could go on and on.   
   >   
   > Even the presumption you can 'know' what the 'limited resources' are   
   > is fallacious. For example, today we farm on what Malthus called non   
   > arable land. We use metals where wood was once used, we use plastics,   
   > cement, and ceramics where metals were once used, and we extract   
   > minerals from places no one thought possible or even knew were there.   
   >   
   > As far as 'the earth' goes we have, to make a pun on mining, quite   
   > literally 'hardly scratched the surface'.and who's to say that in 100   
   > years we won't be Star Trek beaming minerals up from 100 miles down or   
   > 'assembling matter' from pure energy?   
   >   
   > You can call it 'science fiction' but a big chunk of what we blithely   
   > use today was beyond even the imagining 100 years ago; like a computer   
   > (what's a computer?) in your pocket.   
      
   The asteroid belt has material for a *lot* of pie.   
      
   Find a nice-sized one that has goodies in it that you   
   need, give it a shove in the right direction.  If you   
   need it soon, you shove it hard.  If you can wait,   
   you just tap it a bit.  When it shows up in your   
   vicinity, you can smack it down on the Moon, or   
   brake it into orbit (L5 is nice) and mine it.  Solar   
   energy is abundant, makes no mess at all, is   
   available (in space) 24/7/365, and costs almost   
   nothing, once the means to collect it have been built.   
   Hell, you could do advanced smelting, refining,   
   distillation and other industrial processes with   
   nothing more complicated than a bunch of mirrors.   
   With almost free and almost unlimited electricity   
   available, cargo delivery via railgun becomes   
   feasible.  The High Frontier is where it's AT,   
   folks.  All we have to do is haul our ass off this   
   rock and go get all the stuff we'll ever need..   
      
      
   > There is no "fixed pie," unless you stop baking them.   
      
   I can see my slice; I just can't reach it yet.  ;-)   
      
      
   Lord Valve   
   Futurist   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)