MeleeMonk
Cartoon Pony Wrangler
Part-time gamer, full-time environmentalist, and member of PAPO (People Against Palm Oil)
Posts: 3,651 
|
Post by MeleeMonk on Jun 17, 2018 6:42:20 GMT
I must admit that I am deeply worried about this prospect...
While asteroid mining would dramatically reduce the price on electronics, the risks could be enormous. Two potential problems I already have speculated are:
1: The owners of the mining company (or companies) would literally have the power to influence the entire planet, for good or bad. I'm putting my money on "bad" though seeing as how 1%ers in America (as in USA), like the Koch brothers or Donald Trump, generally have a reputation of being greedy, ultra-conservative, and completely apathetic towards both environmental issues and the lower class. And for every Bill Gates, there are easily 5 of these kind of 1%ers. These are the people who are responsible for all most of the negative perception and stereotypes other countries have of the USA.
2. Bringing a large asteroid into Earth's orbit so it's easier to mine (as mentioned in the above video) is an extremely scary maneuver, because if that asteroid were to fall to earth, it could potentially end life on Earth as we know it..
I feel like this has "bad idea" written all over it. Between the greed/corruption it could create and the destruction it could cause, I feel that in the long run it would be wiser and safer to just recycle what rare metals we have here on Earth.
*For the record I am also against colonizing other planets.
What do you guys think about asteroid mining? Are you for it? Or do you see it as a bad idea?
Discuss.
|
|
stratogustav
Supreme Overlord
Warrior with Bandana
Posts: 7,460
|
Post by stratogustav on Jun 17, 2018 8:03:28 GMT
The elephant in the room is another. More important than metals, what really drives our Earth's economy is energy.
Every single day billions of people go to the local gas station to put gas in their car. Gas is used for bikes, trucks, buses, planes, cruises, you name it. The amount of gas we use in our planet drives ALL the economy.
How much gas do you think this uses? Also do not forget where ALL plastic comes from: It is official that we have seen things that defy aerodynamics, and even more importantly, that do not use our fuel. If we had access to these technologies what do you think would happen to companies that have more money than entire first world countries such as Exxon Mobile, Chevron, Shell, BP, etc.?
This is why more people in schools around the globe know more about Edison than they know about Tesla. Well, just like that, we have places in our own solar system that have had life for millions of years, we know that because these places have oil. Some of these places have more gas resources than our planet: If that is not enough, just look how that Saturn moon looks under the orange haze, as seen by the Cassini station. With that kind of surface it is easy to assume there has been some kind of life there: That is the elephant in the room. It is more likely we would go out of our way to import energy from these places than to use the superior free energy technology.
By the way, the so called "rich people", you mentioned like Gates, Bezos, Slim, Ortega, and the like, are massively poor in comparison to the people with old money.
|
|
cobretti
Vanguard Ranger
Strong Arm Of The Law
Posts: 1,738
|
Post by cobretti on Jun 17, 2018 14:23:23 GMT
My only hang up is how to keep an asteroid from falling to Earth. Other than that I don’t see a problem with asteroid mining. Better to do it out in space where the miners make big bucks in hazard pay versus the conflict minerals our shit is made out of now.
|
|
Dan E. Kool
Walking Trash Can Robot
Now With Extra Pulp!
Posts: 3,325
|
Post by Dan E. Kool on Jun 17, 2018 16:24:08 GMT
I'm just going to say, don't believe everything you read... Not even this post!
|
|
stratogustav
Supreme Overlord
Warrior with Bandana
Posts: 7,460
|
Post by stratogustav on Jun 17, 2018 20:51:04 GMT
Something really cool to add to this comes from Dan's comment. It is fascinating the kind of shit we are actually capable to do nowadays or that we could in some near future.
Some of those things are so ridiculously advance that they they look straight out from a science fiction novel.
It will start becoming very hard for the average joe to even believe in the things technology is allowing us to do, and it is only going to get harder and harder.
Still, Dan's comments applies because the more technology advances, the more people would see how many ridiculous things are actually possible.
So just like in 1969, it would be a lot easier to make up shit, and make people believe it, simply because they have seen other things of similar nature.
|
|
|
|
Post by Imperial Khador on Jun 17, 2018 21:02:36 GMT
I'll say this, the shifts are terrible.
|
|
