I didn't know a person could become gay-tainted after they die if their successor is gay. Hope the next person to have my job after I die isn't gay, otherwise my tombstone might set off someone's gaydar. that would be embarrassing.
It's the viral nature of the GPL.
The social issue I see here is that there's no consensus that we're all the same tribe, and therefore should have each other's back. There are people who see others as competition at best, and prey at worst. For them, a club is not an opportunity to make social connections and strengthen the tribe; it's a feeding ground. I guess one could also turn it around and see it from the other angle. There are people who see a predator in everyone, even when it's not the case. Either way, we're losing something valuable by inhibiting the development of these kinds of social bonds.
Ah yes, the golf war. We barely made it out of the bunker alive!
It was a trap!
Man can't even manage planet Earth. Let alone Mars. It has no business there until it shapes up over here. Meanwhile, robots can do anything there, and elsewhere, and do it more effectively.
With respect to not having any business there, I respectfully disagree. I think something like this is just what we need to get our shit together. We've been getting away with lots of unsustainable practices here on Earth, because our ecosystem is big enough to absorb the damage so far. The problem with this is that the consequences are too far away in time or place for us to care. Boiling the frog, and all that.
Mars, on the other hand, is a pretty unforgiving place. If we can't be self sustaining in a small closed environment such as a habitat for a few dozen people, we'll know pretty quickly. A successful setup on Mars should breed a conservationist mentality in Martians that can be applied back on Earth.
In less than a century, computers will be making substantial progress on ... the overriding problem of war and peace. -- James Slagle