Comments on: Water Purification and Civilization

By: Carnival of Creativity April 15, 2012 | The Writing Reader

Carnival of Creativity April 15, 2012 | The Writing Reader — Sun, 15 Apr 2012 18:30:27 +0000

[...] Gates stimulates our creative juices with prompts about Water Purification and Civilization at Science in My [...]

By: Jack Johnson

Jack Johnson — Sat, 21 Jan 2012 17:30:58 +0000

This made me look differently about water. I found the tree to be very valuable to life. I also did not know about it. Thanks for the info.

By: ktholt

ktholt — Mon, 22 Mar 2010 16:14:10 +0000

I grew up in a desert, and the water conservation habits I learned there have permanently shaped my outlook. I get cranky at the sight of a golf course.

Now, when I write, some part of me is always thinking, “Where is the water from? How did it get here? What’s in it?” Even if I don’t mention water in a given story, thinking about water helped me design the spacesuit/that protected the girl/who saved the station/that housed the last intact seed bank/without which life on Earth would have perished entirely in a recent catastrophe… Or something along those lines.

I like to think that because we’re bags of mostly water, so should our stories be (even if it’s in a round-about way).

By: Athena Andreadis

Athena Andreadis — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 01:24:13 +0000

‘He then wrote to me privately to critique my story universe. He appears to believe that any society based on consensus-style governance is just a fancy name for “majority rule” which he appears to equate with “tyranny.”’

Delete!

By: Mel Green

Mel Green — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 01:20:08 +0000

Well, I dunno if he actually pays much attention to actual space science enough to be in the Mars Society. The conversation began in a non-SF/non-science context — to be specific, on a list that has to do with one alternative for consensus-style governance (which is also relevant to my novel-in-progress). In order to explain a question I had, I gave a little background on some of the assumptions of my story universe. He then wrote to me privately to critique my story universe. He appears to believe that any society based on consensus-style governance is just a fancy name for “majority rule” which he appears to equate with “tyranny.”

Well, yeah, we all know about the tyranny of the majority. But he kinda skips a few steps in equating govt. by consent with tyranny. William Hickman & other sociopaths may disagree.

By: Athena Andreadis

Athena Andreadis — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 00:20:28 +0000

SF highly libertarian? He must have stopped reading at Heinlein.

I will also venture to guess that he’s a member of Robert Zubrin’s Mars Society. I was the keynote speaker in one of their early conventions and The Mars Direct plan is actually clever and sound, but some members are, let’s say… unclear on several concepts.

“Even though I live in a biosphere that has plenty of free air, I don’t actually enjoy wasting my breath.”

Heh heh heh.

By: Mel Green

Mel Green — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 00:12:41 +0000

Hahaaa you hit it bang on the nose. He attempted to educate me on the “science” in science fiction with a reading/film list that began with The Moon is a Harsh Mistress & the Sean Connery movie “Outland.” His email ended with this sentence: “SF tends to be
highly libertarian, and there are sound engineering reasons for that.” In between, he gave me all kinds of false analogies in an attempt to disprove my contention that certain resources like breathable air & food are scarce in outer space.

E.g. there are plenty of inhospitable environments on
Earth. The European settlers that landed on the shores of Virginia
were starving until the Indians showed them the technology of what to
eat and what to plant. They still did poorly until they converted
their communism to private property and free enterprise.

Even supposing this to be true… something (possibly the use of my brain) makes me think that there will be no Squanto to teach us the best way to plant corn on the Moon. Duh.

I haven’t yet had the excess energy to waste on answering this guy. Even though I live in a biosphere that has plenty of free air, I don’t actually enjoy wasting my breath.

By: Athena Andreadis

Athena Andreadis — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 22:49:49 +0000

Let me guess — he’s an extreme libertarian! *laughs*

By: Mel Green

Mel Green — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 21:54:46 +0000

Yep, that’s a big one: what do we do with our dead in an artificial biosphere. NASA doesn’t even like to talk about sex in space — it’s gonna have an even tougher time talking about how to recycle the dead in an artificial biosphere.

By: Mel Green

Mel Green — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 21:53:00 +0000

The ideas and technologies that will make it possible for us to continue living on earth will also make arcship voyages possible.

Yes! I’ll tell you, since starting to research CELSS, it’s made me all the more appreciative of the intricacy of a natural biosphere, & how what we learn from trying to design artificial biospheres will (hopefully) lead us to taking better care of the one we’re living in now.

I’ve been having a sort of a conversation with a guy who tells me that if you were living on the Moon & had a disagreement with the people you lived with, all you’d have to do would be to hop in your “moon buggy” & drive 45 minutes away & dig a hole for a new house. Ah… right. Guess there must be a Chrysler moon buggy plant in the next crater over. Not to mention a ready supply of breathable air & all the necessaries to recycle it when you exhaust all the oxygen in it….