#283 – Chris Mason: Space Travel, Colonization, and Long-Term Survival in Space

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May 8, 2022

Chris Mason, a Cornell professor specializing in genomics and biophysics, dives into the fascinating challenges and opportunities of space travel. He discusses the long-term effects of space on the human body, including genetic adaptations and radiation impacts. The conversation expands to ethical dilemmas in genetic research and potential colonization of planets like Mars. Mason envisions sustainable living in space and explores the intricate relationship between technology and human survival, ultimately framing our exploration as a moral duty.

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INSIGHT

Extinction Awareness and Duty

Extinction awareness is a uniquely human trait, possibly shared by future sentience.
This awareness creates a moral duty to protect all life.

INSIGHT

Extinction as Creative Force

Contemplating human extinction is a creative force, like a deadline for the species.
It motivates us to preserve humanity's unique traits and achievements.

INSIGHT

Fighting Heat Death

The heat death of the universe is an engineering problem worth fighting against.
Humans have a duty to counteract entropy and ensure the continuation of life.

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The Precipice

Existential Risk and the Future of Humanity

Toby Ord

In this book, Toby Ord argues that humanity is in a uniquely dangerous period, which he terms 'the Precipice,' beginning with the first atomic bomb test in 1945. Ord examines various existential risks, including natural and anthropogenic threats, and estimates that there is a one in six chance of humanity suffering an existential catastrophe within the next 100 years. He advocates for a major reorientation in how we see the world and our role in it, emphasizing the need for collective action to minimize these risks and ensure a safe future for humanity. The book integrates insights from multiple disciplines, including physics, biology, earth science, computer science, history, anthropology, statistics, international relations, and moral philosophy[1][3][5].

The Andromeda Strain

Michael Crichton

The novel begins with a military satellite crashing in northern Arizona, leading to the deaths of nearly all the inhabitants of the nearby town of Piedmont. Only two survivors are found: an old man and a baby. A team of scientists, part of Project Wildfire, is dispatched to investigate the cause of the deaths and to contain the threat. They discover an alien organism, the Andromeda Strain, which has lethal effects on humans by clotting their blood. As the scientists delve deeper, they find that the organism mutates into a form that no longer harms humans but begins to eat through rubber and plastic. The story culminates in a race against time to prevent a catastrophic breach of the containment facility and the potential spread of the organism[1][2][5].

Finnegans Wake

David Hayman

James Joyce

Finnegans Wake is James Joyce's final and most complex work, written over a period of seventeen years. The novel is set in a dream world where the protagonist, Humphrey Chimpden Earwicker (HCE), and his family—wife Anna Livia Plurabelle (ALP) and their children Shem, Shaun, and Issy—undergo various transformations and identities. The book is known for its innovative use of language, combining elements from multiple languages and creating new words through portmanteaus and puns. It explores themes of identity, history, and the cyclical nature of life, drawing on Irish mythology, biblical narratives, and personal experiences. The novel's structure is circular, ending with the sentence that begins the book, creating a continuous loop[3][4][5].

Ulysses

James Joyce

Ulysses is a groundbreaking and complex modernist novel that chronicles the experiences of three Dubliners over a single day. The novel is loosely based on Homer's epic poem 'The Odyssey', with Leopold Bloom paralleling Odysseus, Stephen Dedalus paralleling Telemachus, and Molly Bloom paralleling Penelope. It explores themes such as antisemitism, human sexuality, British rule in Ireland, Catholicism, and Irish nationalism. The novel is known for its innovative use of language and narrative techniques, including stream-of-consciousness and multiple literary styles. It captures the essence of early 20th-century Dublin, providing a detailed snapshot of the city's social, political, and cultural landscape[2][3][5].

Reasons and Persons

Derek Parfit

Derek Parfit's "Reasons and Persons" is a landmark work in contemporary philosophy, profoundly impacting discussions on personal identity, ethics, and rationality. Parfit challenges traditional notions of the self, arguing that our sense of personal identity is less coherent than we assume. He explores the implications of this for our moral obligations, particularly concerning future generations. The book delves into the complexities of decision-making under uncertainty, examining how we should weigh our present interests against the potential consequences of our actions for the future. Parfit's rigorous analysis and thought-provoking arguments have had a lasting influence on various fields, including ethics, political philosophy, and decision theory. His work continues to stimulate debate and inspire new research.

The Next 100 Years

A Forecast for the 21st Century

George Friedman

In this book, George Friedman provides a lucid and highly readable forecast of the changes we can expect around the world during the 21st century. He predicts the conclusion of the U.S.-Jihadist war and its replacement by a second cold war with Russia, a major internal crisis in China, and the emergence of Mexico as an important world power. Friedman also forecasts a new global war in the middle of the century involving the United States and an unexpected coalition from Eastern Europe, Eurasia, and the Far East. Additionally, he discusses the focus on space technology for military and energy purposes and predicts a Golden Age for the United States in the second half of the century.

Chris Mason is a professor of genomics, physiology, and biophysics at Cornell, doing research on the long-term effects of space on the human body. He is the author of The Next 500 Years: Engineering Life to Reach New Worlds. Please support this podcast by checking out our sponsors:
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EPISODE LINKS:
Chris’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/mason_lab
Chris’s Website: http://masonlab.net/
Chris’s Company: https://onegevity.com/
The Next 500 Years (book): https://amzn.to/3k9ab4S
Reasons and Persons (book): https://amzn.to/3Lrm6a5

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OUTLINE:
Here’s the timestamps for the episode. On some podcast players you should be able to click the timestamp to jump to that time.
(0:00) – Introduction
(7:43) – Human extinction awareness
(16:29) – Heat death of the universe
(22:05) – Alone in the universe
(25:41) – Aliens
(33:50) – Entropy goggles
(48:04) – Genetics
(56:14) – Scott Kelly
(1:02:12) – Adapting to space
(1:12:13) – Sex in space
(1:14:46) – Colonizing planets
(1:21:25) – Culture on Mars
(1:25:51) – Commercial space flights
(1:33:09) – Podcast in space
(1:40:43) – Axiom Space
(1:42:59) – Designing space experiments
(1:49:49) – Robots in space
(1:52:30) – Space exploration
(1:56:28) – War in space
(2:00:05) – Launch toward the Second Sun
(2:06:14) – Chlorohumans
(2:11:50) – Extreme microbiome project
(2:18:17) – Space travel breakthroughs
(2:30:15) – Clones
(2:36:08) – AI age prediction
(2:41:38) – Advice for young people
(2:47:56) – Dark times
(2:52:19) – Mortality
(2:56:37) – Visiting ISS and deep space
(2:57:46) – Meaning of life