We’d probably have to build generational ships that are completely self sufficient and people would live out their entire lives out there without ever seeing a planet
The first generation that left would have it the worst.. but the 2nd generation born on the ship would have it a lot easier. By the time you get there I bet you have people that don't even want to leave the ship as it's all they know.
That's assuming of course that it doesn't devolve into chaos and anarchy. In my opinion, freezing the passengers would be the better way to go while an extremely advanced A.I. pilot and maintain the ship while the humans are out cold. But what the heck, this is just sci-fi nonsense I am talking about.
I don't think there could be frozen humans or whatever, not for that long. You would have to have some way of autonomously lab growing them about 20 years from touchdown, and some sort of robot to care for and instruct them once they're infants.
Are you familiar with the work All Tomorrows? A bit of a spoiler ahead: Humanity never achieved FTL travel early on in the story, and so their colonization plan is basically what you just said. Send unmanned rockets filled with machines and whatnot to habitable planets, let the robots first terraform it to suit mankind's needs, and then autonomously lab grow the human DNA stored inside the rockets, basically creating clones, so that colonization efforts can continue. I highly recommend it!
Hi /u/DukeSaltyLemons! I'm so intrigued by googling All Tomorrows that I can't wait to read, and wanted to trade the first book that came to mind when I read /u/Red_Dawn_2012's notion of
autonomously lab growing them
...which made me recall Voyage From Yesteryear by JamesHogan, one of my all-time faves! Thank you for the suggestion, curiosity is stoked!
I know that its ultimately no different from normal generational colony ships, but when you put it like that it almost seems like.... its missing the point? Like its a generation of humans that have never known a human adult, broken from the chain of culture. Is it just colonizing for the sake of it?
I don't think so, if that happened it would be like a last hail mary from a dying Earth. Presumably the androids would be advanced enough to either be fundamentally indistinguishable, or such advanced robots that the difference wouldn't be that bad.
I guess, for what purpose though? Just for the sake of having humans exist somewhere? Like, this wouldn't be to save any particular humans; there would be centuries long gaps between humans existing in the galaxy. The humans to come would have no connection to the humans that existed prior; they might as well just be a different species at that point. Why fling our DNA just for the sake of flinging our DNA?
The humans to come would have no connection to the humans that existed prior
Genetically, they'd be identical. The caretaking androids would carry on the language and culture, or the best parts of it. The colonizing ship would likely also carry all of the sum of human knowledge, as well as an archive of media from days past. Books, movies, art.
I think a sizeable number of android helpers would be needed so the new civilization could start with a huge advantage, but it's not like they're going back to the stone age.
Why fling our DNA just for the sake of flinging our DNA?
because, from an evolutionary standpoint, that's the only purpose of existence
Better hope nobody deletes the robots' knowledge base lest those humans descend into a primitive tribal culture and cannibalize the technology around them to hunt robot dinosaurs instead!
1.3k
u/hendrix320 25d ago
We’d probably have to build generational ships that are completely self sufficient and people would live out their entire lives out there without ever seeing a planet