Potential Hazard of Intergalactic Travel

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Hi all. I'm making this thread because I just thought of something.

Let's say human beings in the future were flying though space. Even at a very high speed, intergalactic travel would take many decades. Thus, some science fiction fans have proposed that future humans should board supergiant spaceships that can sustain many generations of people.

Here's why I'm worried: Let's say the pilot of the ship went crazy. He could turn of the power and kill everybody ... or he could potentially threaten to switch off the power and then become a dictator using this threat of mutually assured destruction. Nobody would be able to escape in this situation.

This is another potential hazard of space travel. A spaceship flying across the vast, dark space between galaxies could potentially be held hostage and become an authoritarian regime. Didn't that happen in Wall-E?

Furthermore, the captains of these ships could very easily go insane because spending so much time away from the earth may not be good for your mental health. The space between galaxies could be full of dark energy, which could have a negative impact on the functioning of the human brain.

How do we prevent this sort of thing? How will we ensure that our mega-ships stay democratic?

Discuss.

There’s no democracy on a vessel, there’s the captain/pilot and the people following orders. Anything different is asking for disaster. Long distance travel is a dangerous enterprise, there must be a clear chain of command for success.

Alright.

Perhaps it would be simpler to just make life easier here on earth then.

I get the feeling that DMK has either just played "Analogue : a hate story" or that if he hasn't, he probably should play it

Without spoiling anything, you are someone who does salvage on adrift multi-generation ships.(Ships that never made it to where they were going).
You find a ship with no damage, but everyone is dead and you manage to reboot the library AI, but can you trust it?

I remember it as a fun game. Good story. Worth the couple of hours I spent on it.

Food For Thought: Religion is the heart of a heartless world. Therefore, it is entirely possible that these megaships and space colonies will end up becoming more religious than the earth.

These mega-ships and space colonies will likely be more brutal than the earth after all.

That should have always been the goal. If we're doing multi-generational ships to distant reaches of space that means we've f****d up our own planet so much we can't survive here anymore. The only reason to do a long distance space trip with humans as opposed to robots is pure survival.

Another possibility was discussed in All Tomorrows by C. M. Kosemen. Perhaps we will send robots to other planets, and then they will build humans using artificial wombs.

Of course, this idea comes with hazards of its own. The new humans may worship their robot parents.

I'm less worried about the the darth vader evil ruler stuff than i am about space travel in itself. I mean, you're in space - literally the least hospitable environment for humans - from extreme temperature, lack of oxygen, radiation and the deleterious effect of microgravity. our bodies are not made to face up to the strain of space travel and though space travel has been glamorised (for good reasons!) on tv shows our technologies are nowhere near making space 'safe'. compare that with travelling the ocean back when humans where first starting to set sail - fear of the unknown, lack of adequate technology and extreme sacrifices... even Space X's goal to reach Mars worries me - what would happen to people trying to get there - mentally and physically speaking? will their bones become so weak they'll become terminally ill? what about the psychological effect of 3 yrs of space travel + being in an empty, desolate planet trapped in your suit and never able to breathe oxygen from fresh air ever again? i'd go mental.

I think we could potentially have one of those problems here on earth rite now. One person in charge of a country can get mad or go crazy & start a nuclear war that destroys the earth.

He's talking about nuclear disarmament now.

He's still contributing to global warming, but we can still vote him out of office before he kills everyone.

What kind of robots?

Are you taking about little robots like the Mars Rover, because right now I'm imagining swashbuckling robotic conquistadors.

I suppose that intelligent robotic conquistadors could more effectively fight off aliens, but they might declare independence from us.

The ship should have a Virtual Reality service or equivalent of a Holodeck.

The ship or part of it should be in rotation to substitute for gravity.

The mission for the ship would probably be governed in programming giving the Captain leeway, but requiring approval from 1 or more other officers for more major changes in operation of the ship or changing course.

There should also be an officer who is well screened in mental health that can function partly has a Counselor or even Chaplain for crew struggling with spiritual needs. I tend to think a Unitarian Universalist could fit into this position being spiritual and open to different faith traditions.

There wouldn't be a need for a pilot or even a crew. If we are smart enough to create such an inter stellar ship then we'd be smart enough for it to be fully automated.

I'm a sci-fi fan. These eventualities have been covered in a lot of stuff I read. Try reading Stephen Baxter for example.
Back on planet earth (literally) I don't believe this sort of space travel will ever happen. The human body is uniquely badly designed for the conditions in space and we'll all have drowned in our own s**t long before the technology is available.

I don't think it will happen either its just not worth the effort. Unless wormholes are possible or something similar people are not going to want to spend their life on a ship or be put in stasis never to see their family and friends again for a planet they have no idea about.

Even colonising mars seems silly at this point there are regions on earth that are deemed uninhabitable yet they are far less hostile than mars.

Well ... I guess this means that I'll never get to beat up aliens with a lightsaber.

I wish lightsabers were real, even though they don't really make much sense. Mine would be a double-bladed lightsaber, like the one used by Darth Maul ... or Kirby.

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I also think that a space war would be cool, since it would involve exploding missiles and lasers in outer space! PEWPEWPEW!