Macabre question I’m pondering right now: is there more killing on rough, lawless frontiers or corrupt and collapsing civilization cores. My intuition is that the latter is far worse but I have no data.
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Absence of rule of law creates a less hostile environment than failure of rule of law. Though of course there’s more ways to die on the frontier besides being killed by competing explorers/prospectors. Star caring, thirst, falling off a cliff, sneks.
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Note: thinking of actual sparsely inhabited frontiers, not colonizers clearing out a weaker civilization. That’s not really exploration per se.
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Moon, Antarctica, probably pockets of rough terrain like mountain heights, oceans, deep sea. They’re all exploration for its iwn sake without settling though.
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There is little to no “killing” in those spaces, outide a larger war. Death stalks them enough. Your earlier question about frontiers implied settlement and exploitation enough for rivalry. That’s the colonial project.
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You can kill fellow explorers for resources. One escape pod two astronauts sorta thing.
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Except that almost never happens. Usually the opposite. Extreme environments demand teamwork to stave off death. A solo individual is toast.
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