Wednesday, 16 June 2021

Frontier

For people who live and die in one place and never travel, the horizon is a permanent frontier. Human beings radiating out from Africa had a frontier. Settlers trekking across the North American continent had a frontier. Until recently, it was possible to write sf about strange beings inhabiting Antarctica, undiscovered islands, an unknown continent, the upper atmosphere or the depths of the sea. When the globe had been encircled and there was as yet no space program, the only frontiers on Earth were the artificial borders between countries and the sky could be regarded as a roof, not a frontier.

However, human beings spreading through space will have acquired a permanent frontier. In "Starfog," the thinly populated planet, Serieve, is at the edge of the known and the "Cloud Universe," concealed behind the Dragon's Head Nebula, is beyond the edge. The Kirkasanters claim that their home planet, in the Cloud Universe, is:

"'Well out in the Dragon's Head sector, where we're barely beginning to explore.'" (p. 716)

Human beings will live permanently with the knowledge both that there is a frontier and that someone is always beginning to explore beyond it. That knowledge will profoundly affect human cultures.

3 comments:

Sean M. Brooks said...

Kaor, Paul!

And my view is that a permanent frontier of that kind will be good for the human race. Dissatisfied of oppressed people could, theoretically, leave one planet to move elsewhere to live as they thought was best.

I said, "theoretically," because it would not always be possible, for one reason or another, for people to leave their planets. Even so, the mere knowledge of the existence of a frontier would probably be an inspiration.

We might see the beginnings of that kind of attitude if Elon Musk manages to found his Mars colony!

Ad astra! Sean

paulshackley2017@gmail.com said...

Sean,

This is still very theoretical. How many habitable environments will be there be off Earth? And how attractive will be even to people dissatisfied on Earth?

Paul.

Sean M. Brooks said...

Kaor, Paul!

Fair questions! It's my view, from reading Gerard O'Neill's THE HIGH FRONTIER and Robert Zubrin's THE CASE FOR MARS, that if people really WANT to, they can make or adapt environments suitable for people to live in.

And I have read of how at least 500,000 people have expressed interest and willingness to sign up as Mars colonists in Zubrin's Mars One project. So such ideas are attractive to a large enough number that at least a start could be made. And, if O'Neill Habitats and a Mars colony succeeds, more can be expected to leave.

Ad astra! Sean