Craig Haynie <cchayniepub...@gmail.com> wrote: > > You know, if we could find a way to the stars, then suddenly, there's > plenty of room for anyone who has ever lived, and anyone who wants to > live forever. >
Naah, that just shoves the problem off into the future. See Asimov, "The Last Question": http://www.multivax.com/last_question.html Besides, old people are not likely to travel so we we would end up having them clutter up the earth, like the old people who are left in rural districts in Japan after the young people moved to the big cities. That is depressing, let me tell you! The older I get, the less patience I have for old farts. Especially people in science such as Huizenga and Park. I agree with Max Planck that progress in science occurs "funeral by funeral." A new scientific truth does not triumph by convincing its opponents and making them see the light, but rather because its opponents eventually die, and a new generation grows up that is familiar with it. We need to be rid of old people, to give young people their turn. Death is as essential to social evolution as it is to biological evolution. It is essential to technology as well. James Watt was a gifted engineer and he made some of the greatest contributions to technology in history, but when he got old he held up progress. He insisted that steam cylinders should be kept at low pressure for safety. He had great authority and people stuck to his recommendations. After he died, Young Turks began building high pressure cylinders, which reduced the weight of steam engines, and improved the power to weight ratio. Without that, they could not have made things like steam locomotives. - Jed
