Brave New World That Has Such Monsters In It

A new breakthrough in nuclear fusion technology could allow humans to spread throughout the universe https://t.co/zhrnbNhkPh

— Raw Story (@RawStory) December 13, 2022

Science fiction is fiction; not science.

Can we take our biosphere with us? Our gravity (earth-normal, I mean), bacteria, animals, plants, soil, water, atmosphere? The older I get the more I realize science fiction about "colonizing" solar systems is never written by farmers or experts in botany or agriculture. That whole thing of Matt Damon growing plants on Mars in Martian soil in order to survive? Bullshit. Plants don't grown in dirt, they grown in soil. Soil is the product of millions of years of living things (plants) dying and leaving behind the topsoil/loam in which other plants grow. I'm not expert, but I pot a lot of plants, and potting soil I buy is not "dirt," it's an organic medium. That medium supports bacteria which supports plant life, which supports the bacteria. No bacteria and no soil for the bacteria, no plant growth. No plants, no intake of carbon dioxide exhalation of oxygen. We humans need a fairly precise atmosphere and need to keep the bacteria in our bodies alive so we can live. And then there's the effects of microgravity, only now beginning to be understood. I think "spreading" to other planets is a rather idiotic misunderstanding of how this whole thing works. Kind of like making Elon Musk the richest man in the world because you think he's going to make you rich someday (if Tesla is the only car company in the world by mid-century, you win that bet. Otherwise....)

My apologies for not including the Alt Text (which is particularly relevant for this Tweet!)

"Earlier this year, many people with Argus optical implants – which allow blind people to see – lost their vision when the manufacturer, Second Sight, went bust." 1/

— Charles Gaba (Had a blue check pre-11/07/22) (@charles_gaba) December 13, 2022

On the other hand, I'm pretty sure I read about this future in a William Gibson story 40 years ago.

Here's the original story: https://t.co/fiyDlgsI4m

— Charles Gaba (Had a blue check pre-11/07/22) (@charles_gaba) December 13, 2022

In that story people were buying eyes for fashion, rather like one buys a Tesla or a Bentley today. Except even Gibson didn't imagine the future we have now, where computerized gizmos like a Tesla or eyes have to be "maintained" and "updated," and if the company stops "supporting" the product (like Microsoft software), it becomes obsolete. Gibson's future was grim, but it was never that grim.*

Less and less am I worried about the "brave new world" of social media.  That's highly overrated by people in the media, who happen to have all the megaphones (even Elmo's megaphone is tiny unless he's amplified by the media).  More and more do I fear this brave new world where computer products must be supported, or they become worthless.  Not a problem when it's a wristwatch I can unbuckle and do without.  A much bigger problem when it's medical technology I was told I could rely on.

*Tesla still supports their cars, but there are lots of stories of people being locked in, or out, of their Tesla and unable to access either its functions or Tesla support.  I don't think that's going to happen with a non-Tesla EV anytime soon.  Maybe we need a new model for computerized objects that aren't just a phone or a desktop item.  And yes, I'm quite aware of Elon's promise to put chips in brains soon.  How long will it take until he gets bored with that, too?