Читать книгу The Expanse and Philosophy - Группа авторов - Страница 23

Margarida Hermida

“Platinum, iron, and titanium from the Belt. Water from Saturn, vegetables and beef from the big mirror‐fed greenhouses on Ganymede and Europa, organics from Earth and Mars. Power cells from Io, Helium‐3 from the refineries on Rhea and Iapetus.”¹ At the start of The Expanse, human beings live all across the solar system; on Earth, Mars, in space stations in the asteroid belt, on the moons of Jupiter, and beyond. A vast interplanetary commercial exchange is in place.

While the details might differ, our solar system is indeed full of resources that could support a much larger human population than Earth.² Contemporary philosopher John Leslie, author of The End of the World: The Science and Ethics of Human Extinction, argues that we have basically two options: either humanity has a long and prosperous future, expanding beyond Earth, and possibly even spreading across the galaxy; or else it is likely to go extinct within the next few centuries.³

So, which is it going to be? We can’t answer that question without considering the challenges facing humanity.