Lifetime of an extraterrestrial Colony

[Moontanman]

My basic question boils down how far ahead of a death of a planet must be to be morally correct in colonization.

 

For instance if you had a perfect earth like planet but you know that one million years from now the star will go nova or an other wise disastrous cataclysm a certain period of time how far away would the disaster have to be before you would live there or recommend living there to another person?

 

Let's say in 50,000 years a super volcano will erupt and wipe out complex life on the planet, do you go there to live have children, build cities, knowing they are going definitely going to be destroyed 50,000 years from now?

[Phi for All]

The hard part to plan for is where we'd be technologically by that time. Look at the last 500 years, and imagine where we'd be in 50,000 years. That cataclysmic event might be child's play for us by then.

 

Is the threat that the supervolcano is going to wipe out all higher order life in 50,000 years, or sometime in the next 50,000 years? Since we can establish colonies, the first one isn't as much of an investment gamble as the second.

[Moontanman]

The hard part to plan for is where we'd be technologically by that time. Look at the last 500 years, and imagine where we'd be in 50,000 years. That cataclysmic event might be child's play for us by then.

 

Is the threat that the supervolcano is going to wipe out all higher order life in 50,000 years, or sometime in the next 50,000 years? Since we can establish colonies, the first one isn't as much of an investment gamble as the second.

 

 

I was thinking the disaster would be unavoidable, "insert random end of world scenarios," would you still be willing to colonize that planet now knowing that within a specified time, thousands of years at least, the planet was going to be destroyed?

[Ophiolite]

People plant vineyards on the side of volcanoes, erect film studios next to major fault lines and construct towns in flood plains. I believe that provides the answer to the question.

[Moontanman]

People plant vineyards on the side of volcanoes, erect film studios next to major fault lines and construct towns in flood plains. I believe that provides the answer to the question.

 

 

Very true but do they do it with certain knowledge? It's one thing to say a volcano might one day erupt and level your town it quite different to know for sure...

[Phi for All]

If we have a safe range, even if it's just 1000 years, that's enough for more generations than I can trace my family back. It should be more than enough time to make back the colonization investment, and hopefully we continue to plan long term by investing in the next colonization, the one that saves us from extinction in 1000 years.

Very true but do they do it with certain knowledge? It's one thing to say a volcano might one day erupt and level your town it quite different to know for sure...

 

It's odd, isn't it?

 

"It's going to erupt sometime in the next 50 years". Vague gamble with a definite expiration date, might make you take your chances right up to the very end.

 

"It's overdue and might erupt at any time". Walking the tightrope here, you need to do your business and get out after a decent profit to minimize risks. The longer you stay, the more you risk losing it all.

 

"It's going to erupt for sure in 47.4 years". This seems like a no-brainer to me. If you know when the eruption takes place, you can plan accordingly for optimum benefits.

[Phi for All]

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Moderator Note

In response to a reported suggestion, we're going to move this subject to Ethics for a slightly different perspective.