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Inspired by like 15 different articles in my tl that say “the billionaire space race is a distraction from the rest of the problems in the world”

Mostly I think space matters and many other things matter too. If each of us thinks hard about where we want humanity to go and which one or two problems we care about most and devote ourselves fully to them, I think humanity will have a good portfolio of what it’s working on

In a sense the real distraction is practically every problem that isn’t one you’re personally devoting your whole life to The world moves forward when small groups of people work on projects they care about deeply for decades

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I know the term “contrarian” is among the most mocked right now, but I do think if others don’t approve of a project you both just can’t stop thinking about and think is important, it’s strong evidence for devoting your life to it

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sasha

@softminus

Replying to @nickcammarata

"not allowed to devote yourself to a problem we don't approve of" is something i got hit with so many times growing up and it warms my soul to see people not only immune to it but full of indomitable energy / ambition.

(Also the idea that the word contrarian is mocked is so sad, and exactly what Rene Girard — the philosopher upstream of all of this discourse — would have predicted)

I’m not particularly pro space btw, I’m just pro ambitious technical projects* that could change things for the better. Space fits the bill * I’ve come to believe “it’s technically hard” is very good evidence for why something good hasn’t been done yet, the $20 on the ground

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Replying to @gfodor

Yeah I don’t actually think it’s space

but I think it’s a thing with a lot of the properties of space (technical, high-impact, people generally against it) like AI, psychedelics or something else. And it’s hard to predict which one! So I support anything with these properties