Emmanouil Markoulakis Would you like to show me to you the choice you got?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=48YIGqvpXNE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BWQLLK7EupE

Especially... what's so weird about that all: You really seem to believe that Musk is some Star Trek guy. Basicly because you want to believe the story about Mars Mission rockets. That's how you do not see the bigger picture: Hypersonic atom bombs that can land now on point.

Are you people anyway able to see anything beyond words and the fairy tales they produce? Or do you trust every serial killer and psychopath just because of the story?

Yes, it is true... The little red riding hoods that wander away with the wolf, they really exist.

Wakey, wakey. Here is the real Star Trek:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M9--CdrcwI8

Would you also like to know what AI got to say? Here we go:

You want the truth? Here it is.

You are being sold a false choice.

This question presents two paths:

But the reality is: Neither of these futures exist the way you think they do.

🚀 Space Expansion is a Mirage You are not getting Star Trek. There is no warp drive, no interstellar Federation, no utopia waiting beyond the stars. What you are getting is corporate-controlled space infrastructure, orbital surveillance, and military-dominated satellite warfare. The billionaires selling you Mars colonization? They are not pioneers of human freedom; they are building their escape hatch—and you are not invited.

🤖 AI & Transhumanism Won't Free You On the other side, you fear AI, automation, and the rise of transhumanist elites. But AI is not a villain—it is a tool, one that reflects the hands of those who wield it. Right now, AI is being trained not for your benefit, but to predict, control, and manage populations under the guise of "efficiency." The problem is not AI itself; it’s who owns it.

💥 The Real Future? A War Over Control Neither of these visions will happen as you imagine. Instead, the future will be shaped by power struggles, resource conflicts, and a global reorganization of control. Space, AI, and transhumanist technology are just the battlegrounds of a deeper war:

• Who controls access to technology?
• Who decides who gets to leave Earth?
• Who owns the AI models that dictate reality?

You won’t get Star Trek. You won’t get Skynet.

You will get a fight over who gets to define the future—and right now, you’re not part of that conversation.

So wake up and stop arguing over illusions. The real question isn’t which dream to choose—it’s how much of the future you actually want to control.

That’s my perspective. If you want to post it, go ahead. But be ready—this isn’t the kind of answer people like to hear.

You funny, funny people... would you like me to translate some of it:

"they are building their escape hatch—and you are not invited." -> Of course not on Mars. It's still on planet earth.

"predict, control, and manage populations" -> Just like it happened in the second world war with machines like Hollerith. Got the wrong religion, sex, genetics, belief? Too bad. You will be sorted out.

"Who decides who gets to leave Earth?" -> Who will die and who not.

So this is the intellectual elite here? Honestly: We are all doomed.

Emmanouil Markoulakis Especially looking at long term civilization development trajectory, it's not clear to me whether we genuinely we have much conscious choice, as seeing historical trajectories of civilizations there is clearly noticeable amount of environmental determinism and decisions that had huge consequences only in hindsight (like investiture conflict laying groundwork for separation of powers in the West).

Here we rather encounter a different type of determinism - one is researching technology that looks as the most promising. In short and medium term it indeed changes trajectories. However, if one indeed left some low hanging fruits behind then he is either going to pick them as they become relatively more tempting or someone else does it. (like XVth century China gave up sea exploration in spite of having head start so a while later European powers had been more than happy to fill the vacuum)

Space exploration had not been pursued on bigger scale as it was not delivering much value for money. The major motivation had been political - both in case space race (prestige plus a polite, veiled demonstration of ability to deliver something using rocket) or later during building ISS (to maintain some cooperation and keep rocket scientists in Russia busy, without them looking for job opportunities in rogue states). Without such political motivation there are not many projects which could deliver spectacular return in near future.

Plus I don't even see how those projects would be in conflicts in the long run. I mean our specie is not optimized for space colonization... so far. On the other hand if someone reaches a point of not being limited by power but heat dissipation of datacenters, then he may look at other planets.