Re:Exponential Economist Meets Finite Physicist (2012)
by jbay808 on Wednesday May 29, 2019 @06:57PM
(#20046567)
I agree that the tone of straw-manning an economist who may or may not exist, but either way cannot elaborate upon or defend their own arguments, is pretty distasteful.
That said, I think you misunderstood the point of dismissing space colonization. That was done to examine the consequences of that assumption, not as an assertion that space colonization can't be economical.
Many people might think exponential growth can continue even without expanding into space, and trying to dispute this opinion without first drawing a line would just result in confusion as the discussion retreats into "but we'll just expand into space then!".
None of this hemming and hawing about infinity answers the real question...
In what world was that the real question? The one where limits to growth are a broadly accepted fact acknowledged by politicians, economists, and business leaders?
That said, I think you misunderstood the point of dismissing space colonization. That was done to examine the consequences of that assumption, not as an assertion that space colonization can't be economical.
Many people might think exponential growth can continue even without expanding into space, and trying to dispute this opinion without first drawing a line would just result in confusion as the discussion retreats into "but we'll just expand into space then!".
None of this hemming and hawing about infinity answers the real question...
In what world was that the real question? The one where limits to growth are a broadly accepted fact acknowledged by politicians, economists, and business leaders?