Fair enough; this will be my last comment, after which I will leave this subject well alone!
I would just like to conclude with a couple of short points.
Firstly: we are currently isolated on this planet. The gravity well is a harsh mistress, and any significant moves into space would require a massive investment in resource and capital - in a world where we cannot afford to feed and clothe the current inhabitants. Generally speaking, people prefer to know that they've got enough to eat before trying to engage in interplanetary exploration; theorising that technological advance will make resource use more efficient is all very well, but the gravity well remains a constant; and we're certainly nowhere near getting around that at present.
Secondly: if economics attempts to posit a theory based on the wilful misunderstanding (or ignorance) of the physical world, then it is going to get slapped down like the soft science it is.
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branchandroot
no subject
Date: 2010-01-07 04:25 pm (UTC)I would just like to conclude with a couple of short points.
Firstly: we are currently isolated on this planet. The gravity well is a harsh mistress, and any significant moves into space would require a massive investment in resource and capital - in a world where we cannot afford to feed and clothe the current inhabitants. Generally speaking, people prefer to know that they've got enough to eat before trying to engage in interplanetary exploration; theorising that technological advance will make resource use more efficient is all very well, but the gravity well remains a constant; and we're certainly nowhere near getting around that at present.
Secondly: if economics attempts to posit a theory based on the wilful misunderstanding (or ignorance) of the physical world, then it is going to get slapped down like the soft science it is.
Ye cannae break the laws of physics.