Review: Lunacy: Ten False Promises of the New Space Race, Ben Bramble, Princeton
Will we colonise Mars and then spread through the galaxy? Should we? Moral philosopher Ben Bramble’s answer to both of these questions is, at least in the short term, ‘no’, in this short rebuttal to the claims and wishes of tech billionaires with their space fantasies.
The billionaire spacemen such as Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos argue that going further into space is the next giant leap for mankind, that besides it being a great adventure, space colonisation will give us vital new resources, helping Earth’s environment, and will provide a backup if Earth, for whatever reason, becomes uninhabitable. But rather than a reset and the creation of a new utopia, it is likely we will just take our problems into space.
It’s no surprise that the ‘new space race’ is being undertaken by those involved also in the development of AI, as there is also a lot of hype in AI. It is easy to assume that all the altruistic reasons given for going into space are simply masking the real reasons: the share prices of space companies and the egos of their owners.
Bramble argues that spreading ourselves out, first to Mars, may seem like a sensible idea, but the technical challenges are downplayed. There is no indication yet that we can feasibly permanently and autonomously settle Mars; it is often said it is an Earth-like planet, but it is extremely inhospitable. Just two of the issues for permanent human settlement are the lack of a magnetic field (to deflect harmful cosmic rays) and lesser gravity.
Bramble does see some value in unmanned, or at least not permanent, scientific exploration of space. He says there was scientific value in the moon missions, besides the positive vibes. (The moon missions were, however, entirely conceived in the context of the Cold War and the desire to beat the Soviets there, in a very expensive competition for bragging rights; Bramble does acknowledge the critics of the 1960s space program.) But the new space race is spearheaded by private companies, who bring with them a colonialist mindset, and besides the logistical problems of mining space, Bramble sees moral problems.
Bramble suggests that it is ‘incredibly disconcerting’ that there is an assumption that space bodies are simply ripe for us to exploit. This is the colonialist mindset, that destroyed both traditional societies and healthy ecosystems, taken into space. This suggests solipsism and anthropocentrism, not to mention a disregard for collective decision-making. Besides, the timelines for successful space colonisation are so long anyway that we will inevitably need to fix things here first. Fixing problems right in front of us will actually be cheaper than the grand schemes of mining Mars or building space stations in asteroids.
Jeff Bezos seems to think, unsurprisingly, that the future of humanity is simply more and more consumption – a future of accelerating capitalist industrialisation for all. But Bramble quotes the farmer philosopher Wendell Berry who has argued that we need more restraint, not more supply. Fundamentally, billionaire astronauts have different concepts of humanity: for them, we are all individuals competing for finite resources, but space will allow more humans to reach their potential. For Bramble, there is scope for us to let people reach their potential, but vast inequalities in wealth, of which Bezos and Musk are glaring examples, cause restrictions here.
Further, Bramble argues, contrary to those who suggest unlimited space resources will stop wars, that war is undertaken for domination and glory, not just to take stuff. These darker tendencies of humanity are not going to disappear in zero gravity. The likes of Bezos and Musk are used to bossing everyone around – it is inconceivable that they would function in a participatory, democratic, equitable space society where they would have to park their egos and compromise.
It’s also no surprise that the same people hyping the benefits of space colonisation are interested in stretching human longevity, as they have an almost pathological drive for the continuation of self and the perpetuation of the human race, a desire to be like gods, something that is not unanimously touted as a good thing. Coming to terms with the finitude of life, in both the individual and the collective sense, gives one some healthy perspective. Bramble argues at one point that there may be some value in accepting the fact that an asteroid might wipe us all out. And that might even be preferable to infecting the whole galaxy with our presence.
Nick Mattiske blogs on books at coburgreviewofbooks.wordpress.com and is the illustrator of Thoughts That Feel So Big.
