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disposable robots and the talus
Robert Patterson · 05 May 1999, 09:56
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From: Robert Patterson <rpatterson at PROMUS.com> Subject: RE: (whorl) disposable robots and the talus Date: Wed, 5 May 1999 09:56:18 Message-ID: <whorl-v0009-0109 at digest.urth.net> X-Urthmirror-Source: http://www.urth.net/whorl/archives/v0009/0109.shtml MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: multipart/mixed; boundary="----_=_NextPart_001_01BE9707.672A5C10" This message is in MIME format. Since your mail reader does not understand this format, some or all of this message may not be legible. ------_=_NextPart_001_01BE9707.672A5C10 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Greg, about Michael's post: hey Michael, about your last post: >the very concept of a seedship strikes me as so flawed . . . even the >notion of a robotic terraforming flotilla (which is a near cousin) is based >upon the premise that robots are disposable slaves! "Thanks for the >planet, Tinman--now go rust someplace else, you are staining the >lawn." Another point is that if humans are ever going to inhabit other planets, with or without current biospheres, those planets will almost certainly require some level of terraforming. While I find the probability-based arguments for the existence of biospheres on other planets to be fairly plausible, I see no reason to expect that their life-chemistry will be in any way compatible with ours. I just re-read Vernor Vinge's _A_Fire_Upon_the_Deep_, and while it is a great book, he seems rather naive in assuming that everyone can eat everyone else and not die. Of course, if we discover some nice e.t. delicacies on Europa, all bets are off. R. -- Robert Patterson http://home.midsouth.rr.com/rpatterson ------_=_NextPart_001_01BE9707.672A5C10 Content-Type: text/html; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable <!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 3.2//EN"> <HTML> <HEAD> <META HTTP-EQUIV=3D"Content-Type" CONTENT=3D"text/html; = charset=3Diso-8859-1"> <META NAME=3D"Generator" CONTENT=3D"MS Exchange Server version = 5.5.2448.0"> <TITLE>RE: (whorl) disposable robots and the talus</TITLE> </HEAD> <BODY> <BR> <P><FONT SIZE=3D2>Greg, about Michael's post:</FONT> <BR><FONT SIZE=3D2>hey Michael, about your last post:</FONT> <BR><FONT SIZE=3D2>>the very concept of a seedship strikes me as so = flawed . . . even the</FONT> <BR><FONT SIZE=3D2>>notion of a robotic terraforming flotilla (which = is a near cousin) is based</FONT> <BR><FONT SIZE=3D2>>upon the premise that robots are disposable = slaves! "Thanks for the</FONT> <BR><FONT SIZE=3D2>>planet, Tinman--now go rust someplace else, you = are staining the</FONT> <BR><FONT SIZE=3D2>>lawn."</FONT> </P> <P><FONT SIZE=3D2>Another point is that if humans are ever going to = inhabit other planets, with or without current biospheres, those = planets will almost certainly require some level of terraforming. While = I find the probability-based arguments for the existence of biospheres = on other planets to be fairly plausible, I see no reason to expect that = their life-chemistry will be in any way compatible with ours. I just = re-read Vernor Vinge's _A_Fire_Upon_the_Deep_, and while it is a great = book, he seems rather naive in assuming that everyone can eat everyone = else and not die.</FONT></P> <P><FONT SIZE=3D2>Of course, if we discover some nice e.t. delicacies = on Europa, all bets are off.</FONT> </P> <P><FONT SIZE=3D2>R.</FONT> </P> <P><FONT SIZE=3D2>--</FONT> <BR><FONT SIZE=3D2>Robert Patterson</FONT> </P> <P><FONT SIZE=3D2><A HREF=3D"http://home.midsouth.rr.com/rpatterson" = TARGET=3D"_blank">http://home.midsouth.rr.com/rpatterson</A></FONT> <BR><FONT SIZE=3D2> </FONT> </P> </BODY> </HTML> ------_=_NextPart_001_01BE9707.672A5C10-- *This is WHORL, for discussion of Gene Wolfe's Book of the Long Sun. *More Wolfe info & archive of this list at http://www.moonmilk.com/whorl/ *To leave the list, send "unsubscribe" to whorl-request at lists.best.com *If it's Wolfe but not Long Sun, please use the URTH list: urth at lists.best.com
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