Five Ways Generation Ships Are Doomed to Fail in Science Fiction

Do you really hate your descendants? Then by all means, board a
generation ship.

https://www.tor.com/2023/10/04/five-ways-generation-ships-are-doomed-to-fail-in-science-fiction/
--
My reviews can be found at http://jamesdavisnicoll.com/
My tor pieces at https://www.tor.com/author/james-davis-nicoll/
My Dreamwidth at https://james-davis-nicoll.dreamwidth.org/
My patreon is at https://www.patreon.com/jamesdnicoll

James Nicoll wrote:
> Five Ways Generation Ships Are Doomed to Fail in Science Fiction
>
> Do you really hate your descendants? Then by all means, board a
> generation ship.
>
> https://www.tor.com/2023/10/04/five-ways-generation-ships-are-doomed-to-fail-in-science-fiction/

Most likely a hyperdrive failure long ago initiated an inadvertent
impromptu generation ship in "PR81 Spaceship of Ancestors." And
aboard das Raumshiff humans now serve robots.

Danke,

--
Don.......My cat's )\._.,--....,'``. https://crcomp.net/reviews.php
telltale tall tail /, _.. \ _\ (`._ ,. Walk humbly with thy God.
tells tall tales.. `._.-(,_..'--(,_..'`-.;.' Make 1984 fiction again.

On 10/4/2023 10:09 AM, James Nicoll wrote:
> Five Ways Generation Ships Are Doomed to Fail in Science Fiction
>
> Do you really hate your descendants? Then by all means, board a
> generation ship.
>
> https://www.tor.com/2023/10/04/five-ways-generation-ships-are-doomed-to-fail-in-science-fiction/

Joe Haldeman's "Old Twentieth" was a very unique story. But, the
starship did not fail.
https://www.amazon.com/Old-Twentieth-Joe-Haldeman-ebook/dp/B000PC71VE/

Lynn

On 10/4/23 08:09, James Nicoll wrote:
> Five Ways Generation Ships Are Doomed to Fail in Science Fiction
>
> Do you really hate your descendants? Then by all means, board a
> generation ship.
>
> https://www.tor.com/2023/10/04/five-ways-generation-ships-are-doomed-to-fail-in-science-fiction/

I quite enjoyed "The Songs of Distant Earth" by
Arthur C. Clarke.
I did not see how in any way, that venture was doomed
to fail.
It seemed to have a pretty good civilization going.

The centuries later "Generation Ship" that visited
them seemed to me to have picked a harder challenge.

In article <ufkf5u$fn6u$1@dont-email.me>,
Lynn McGuire <lynnmcguire5@gmail.com> wrote:
>very unique

[Hal Heydt]
Say, what?

On 10/4/2023 4:01 PM, Dorothy J Heydt wrote:
> In article <ufkf5u$fn6u$1@dont-email.me>,
> Lynn McGuire <lynnmcguire5@gmail.com> wrote:
>> very unique
>
> [Hal Heydt]
> Say, what?

Did you read the book ? Most of the people on the generation starship
were supposedly immortals. Turned out they were not immortals after
all. I thought putting so-called immortals on a generation starship was
unique.

Lynn

In article <ufkls6$h5rd$1@dont-email.me>,
Lynn McGuire <lynnmcguire5@gmail.com> wrote:
>On 10/4/2023 4:01 PM, Dorothy J Heydt wrote:
>> In article <ufkf5u$fn6u$1@dont-email.me>,
>> Lynn McGuire <lynnmcguire5@gmail.com> wrote:
>>> very unique
>>
>> [Hal Heydt]
>> Say, what?
>
>Did you read the book ? Most of the people on the generation starship
>were supposedly immortals. Turned out they were not immortals after
>all. I thought putting so-called immortals on a generation starship was
>unique.

[Hal Heydt]
I don't need to read the book to question "very unique." Either
something is unique or it isn't. Unique doesn't take
comparatives nor superlatives.

Dorothy J Heydt wrote:
> Lynn McGuire wrote:
>> Dorothy J Heydt wrote:
>>> In article <ufkf5u$fn6u$1@dont-email.me>,
>>> Lynn McGuire wrote:
>>>> very unique
>>>
>>> [Hal Heydt]
>>> Say, what?
>>
>>Did you read the book ? Most of the people on the generation starship
>>were supposedly immortals. Turned out they were not immortals after
>>all. I thought putting so-called immortals on a generation starship was
>>unique.
>
> [Hal Heydt]
> I don't need to read the book to question "very unique." Either
> something is unique or it isn't. Unique doesn't take
> comparatives nor superlatives.

A unique dilemma:

<https://duckduckgo.com/?q="degrees+of+uniqueness"+site:edu>

<https://duckduckgo.com/?q="relatively+unique"+site:edu>

Danke,

--
Don.......My cat's )\._.,--....,'``. https://crcomp.net/reviews.php
telltale tall tail /, _.. \ _\ (`._ ,. Walk humbly with thy God.
tells tall tales.. `._.-(,_..'--(,_..'`-.;.' Make 1984 fiction again.

In article <ufkls6$h5rd$1@dont-email.me>,
Lynn McGuire <lynnmcguire5@gmail.com> wrote:

> On 10/4/2023 4:01 PM, Dorothy J Heydt wrote:
> > In article <ufkf5u$fn6u$1@dont-email.me>,
> > Lynn McGuire <lynnmcguire5@gmail.com> wrote:
> >> very unique
> >
> > [Hal Heydt]
> > Say, what?
>
> Did you read the book ? Most of the people on the generation starship
> were supposedly immortals. Turned out they were not immortals after
> all. I thought putting so-called immortals on a generation starship was
> unique.
>

Poul Anderson's _The Boat of a Million Years_ (it ends with immortals,
one being at least 4000 years old, on a slow boat to the stars). Also a
short story by Robert Buettner, "The Trouble with Millennials" (they
weren't immortal, they just had an estimated lifespan of 1000 years).

--
"We have advanced to new and surprising levels of bafflement."
Imperial Auditor Miles Vorkosigan describes progress in _Komarr_.
—-----------------------------------------------------
Robert Woodward robertaw@drizzle.com

Don wrote:
> Dorothy J Heydt wrote:
>> Lynn McGuire wrote:
>>> Dorothy J Heydt wrote:
>>>> In article <ufkf5u$fn6u$1@dont-email.me>,
>>>> Lynn McGuire wrote:
>>>>> very unique
>>>>
>>>> [Hal Heydt]
>>>> Say, what?
>>>
>>>Did you read the book ? Most of the people on the generation starship
>>>were supposedly immortals. Turned out they were not immortals after
>>>all. I thought putting so-called immortals on a generation starship was
>>>unique.
>>
>> [Hal Heydt]
>> I don't need to read the book to question "very unique." Either
>> something is unique or it isn't. Unique doesn't take
>> comparatives nor superlatives.
>
> A unique dilemma:
>
> <https://duckduckgo.com/?q="degrees+of+uniqueness"+site:edu>
>
> <https://duckduckgo.com/?q="relatively+unique"+site:edu>

To become smarter every day (as they say) learn to avoid placing
quotation marks within the body of an URL's less-than and greater-than
signs.

Allow me to make my links more "one clickable" and simultaneously
sharpen the horns of a unique dilemma:

While pure English supports Hal:

<https://duckduckgo.com/?q=%22no+degrees+of+uniqueness%22+site:edu&ia=web>

higher education's practical English breaks the rule:

<https://duckduckgo.com/?q=%22relatively+unique%22+site:edu&ia=web>

A similar purely practical predicament also appears in _Atlas Shrugged_
(Rand)

"It is only in the realm of pure science that truth is an absolute
criterion. When we deal with applied science, with technology-we
deal with people. And when we deal with people, considerations
other than truth enter the question." [said Dr. Robert Stadler]

Danke,

--
Don.......My cat's )\._.,--....,'``. https://crcomp.net/reviews.php
telltale tall tail /, _.. \ _\ (`._ ,. Walk humbly with thy God.
tells tall tales.. `._.-(,_..'--(,_..'`-.;.' Make 1984 fiction again.

On 10/5/2023 9:28 AM, Don wrote:
> Don wrote:
>> Dorothy J Heydt wrote:
>>> Lynn McGuire wrote:
>>>> Dorothy J Heydt wrote:
>>>>> In article <ufkf5u$fn6u$1@dont-email.me>,
>>>>> Lynn McGuire wrote:
>>>>>> very unique
>>>>>
>>>>> [Hal Heydt]
>>>>> Say, what?
>>>>
>>>> Did you read the book ? Most of the people on the generation starship
>>>> were supposedly immortals. Turned out they were not immortals after
>>>> all. I thought putting so-called immortals on a generation starship was
>>>> unique.
>>>
>>> [Hal Heydt]
>>> I don't need to read the book to question "very unique." Either
>>> something is unique or it isn't. Unique doesn't take
>>> comparatives nor superlatives.
>>
>> A unique dilemma:
>>
>> <https://duckduckgo.com/?q="degrees+of+uniqueness"+site:edu>
>>
>> <https://duckduckgo.com/?q="relatively+unique"+site:edu>
>
> To become smarter every day (as they say) learn to avoid placing
> quotation marks within the body of an URL's less-than and greater-than
> signs.
>
> Allow me to make my links more "one clickable" and simultaneously
> sharpen the horns of a unique dilemma:
>
> While pure English supports Hal:
>
> <https://duckduckgo.com/?q=%22no+degrees+of+uniqueness%22+site:edu&ia=web>
>
> higher education's practical English breaks the rule:
>
> <https://duckduckgo.com/?q=%22relatively+unique%22+site:edu&ia=web>
>
>
>
> A similar purely practical predicament also appears in _Atlas Shrugged_
> (Rand)
>
> "It is only in the realm of pure science that truth is an absolute
> criterion. When we deal with applied science, with technology-we
> deal with people. And when we deal with people, considerations
> other than truth enter the question." [said Dr. Robert Stadler]
>
> Danke,

Oh, Hal is correct. But, I am not a wordsmith, I am a programmer. I
sling words to build mathematical calculations, not to persuade,
entertain, or convince my arguments.

The funny thing is that TAMU gave me credit for my foreign language
requirement for my Mechanical Engineering degree to be Fortran. I
thought it was weird at the time, now I find it hilarious. My German
certainly would not pass any kind of examination, then or now.

Lynn

On Thursday, October 5, 2023 at 10:28:25 AM UTC-4, Don wrote:
> Don wrote:
> > Dorothy J Heydt wrote:
> >> Lynn McGuire wrote:
> >>> Dorothy J Heydt wrote:
> >>>> In article <ufkf5u$fn6u$1...@dont-email.me>,
> >>>> Lynn McGuire wrote:
> >>>>> very unique
> >>>>
> >>>> [Hal Heydt]
> >>>> Say, what?
> >>>
> >>>Did you read the book ? Most of the people on the generation starship
> >>>were supposedly immortals. Turned out they were not immortals after
> >>>all. I thought putting so-called immortals on a generation starship was
> >>>unique.
> >>
> >> [Hal Heydt]
> >> I don't need to read the book to question "very unique." Either
> >> something is unique or it isn't. Unique doesn't take
> >> comparatives nor superlatives.
> >
> > A unique dilemma:
> >
> While pure English supports Hal:
>
> <https://duckduckgo.com/?q=%22no+degrees+of+uniqueness%22+site:edu&ia=web>
>
> higher education's practical English breaks the rule:
>
> <https://duckduckgo.com/?q=%22relatively+unique%22+site:edu&ia=web>
>
>
>
> A similar purely practical predicament also appears in _Atlas Shrugged_
> (Rand)
>
> "It is only in the realm of pure science that truth is an absolute
> criterion. When we deal with applied science, with technology-we
> deal with people. And when we deal with people, considerations
> other than truth enter the question." [said Dr. Robert Stadler]
> Danke,

At least Lynn avoided the phrase "near-immortal," which raises similar objections.

--
-Jack

In article <ufn544$13tdo$2@dont-email.me>,
Lynn McGuire <lynnmcguire5@gmail.com> wrote:
>On 10/5/2023 9:28 AM, Don wrote:
>> Don wrote:
>>> Dorothy J Heydt wrote:
>>>> Lynn McGuire wrote:
>>>>> Dorothy J Heydt wrote:
>>>>>> In article <ufkf5u$fn6u$1@dont-email.me>,
>>>>>> Lynn McGuire wrote:
>>>>>>> very unique
>>>>>>
>>>>>> [Hal Heydt]
>>>>>> Say, what?
>>>>>
>>>>> Did you read the book ? Most of the people on the generation starship
>>>>> were supposedly immortals. Turned out they were not immortals after
>>>>> all. I thought putting so-called immortals on a generation starship was
>>>>> unique.
>>>>
>>>> [Hal Heydt]
>>>> I don't need to read the book to question "very unique." Either
>>>> something is unique or it isn't. Unique doesn't take
>>>> comparatives nor superlatives.
>>>
>>> A unique dilemma:
>>>
>>> <https://duckduckgo.com/?q="degrees+of+uniqueness"+site:edu>
>>>
>>> <https://duckduckgo.com/?q="relatively+unique"+site:edu>
>>
>> To become smarter every day (as they say) learn to avoid placing
>> quotation marks within the body of an URL's less-than and greater-than
>> signs.
>>
>> Allow me to make my links more "one clickable" and simultaneously
>> sharpen the horns of a unique dilemma:
>>
>> While pure English supports Hal:
>>
>> <https://duckduckgo.com/?q=%22no+degrees+of+uniqueness%22+site:edu&ia=web>
>>
>> higher education's practical English breaks the rule:
>>
>> <https://duckduckgo.com/?q=%22relatively+unique%22+site:edu&ia=web>
>>
>>
>>
>> A similar purely practical predicament also appears in _Atlas Shrugged_
>> (Rand)
>>
>> "It is only in the realm of pure science that truth is an absolute
>> criterion. When we deal with applied science, with technology-we
>> deal with people. And when we deal with people, considerations
>> other than truth enter the question." [said Dr. Robert Stadler]
>>
>> Danke,
>
>Oh, Hal is correct. But, I am not a wordsmith, I am a programmer. I
>sling words to build mathematical calculations, not to persuade,
>entertain, or convince my arguments.

[Hal Heydt]
I'm a *retired* programmer. I work hard at not posting an
endless stream of nitpicking corrections to this or that, which
would come naturally from that background. What's worse, I was
an EECS major at UC Berkeley...so some hardware along with the
software.

To be fair, I was married to a linguist for 51 years, and some of
that probably rubbed off as well.

As regards FORTRAN...which versions? I started with FORTRAN II.

On 10/5/2023 5:08 PM, Dorothy J Heydt wrote:
> In article <ufn544$13tdo$2@dont-email.me>,
> Lynn McGuire <lynnmcguire5@gmail.com> wrote:
>> On 10/5/2023 9:28 AM, Don wrote:
>>> Don wrote:
>>>> Dorothy J Heydt wrote:
>>>>> Lynn McGuire wrote:
>>>>>> Dorothy J Heydt wrote:
>>>>>>> In article <ufkf5u$fn6u$1@dont-email.me>,
>>>>>>> Lynn McGuire wrote:
>>>>>>>> very unique
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> [Hal Heydt]
>>>>>>> Say, what?
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Did you read the book ? Most of the people on the generation starship
>>>>>> were supposedly immortals. Turned out they were not immortals after
>>>>>> all. I thought putting so-called immortals on a generation starship was
>>>>>> unique.
>>>>>
>>>>> [Hal Heydt]
>>>>> I don't need to read the book to question "very unique." Either
>>>>> something is unique or it isn't. Unique doesn't take
>>>>> comparatives nor superlatives.
>>>>
>>>> A unique dilemma:
>>>>
>>>> <https://duckduckgo.com/?q="degrees+of+uniqueness"+site:edu>
>>>>
>>>> <https://duckduckgo.com/?q="relatively+unique"+site:edu>
>>>
>>> To become smarter every day (as they say) learn to avoid placing
>>> quotation marks within the body of an URL's less-than and greater-than
>>> signs.
>>>
>>> Allow me to make my links more "one clickable" and simultaneously
>>> sharpen the horns of a unique dilemma:
>>>
>>> While pure English supports Hal:
>>>
>>> <https://duckduckgo.com/?q=%22no+degrees+of+uniqueness%22+site:edu&ia=web>
>>>
>>> higher education's practical English breaks the rule:
>>>
>>> <https://duckduckgo.com/?q=%22relatively+unique%22+site:edu&ia=web>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> A similar purely practical predicament also appears in _Atlas Shrugged_
>>> (Rand)
>>>
>>> "It is only in the realm of pure science that truth is an absolute
>>> criterion. When we deal with applied science, with technology-we
>>> deal with people. And when we deal with people, considerations
>>> other than truth enter the question." [said Dr. Robert Stadler]
>>>
>>> Danke,
>>
>> Oh, Hal is correct. But, I am not a wordsmith, I am a programmer. I
>> sling words to build mathematical calculations, not to persuade,
>> entertain, or convince my arguments.
>
> [Hal Heydt]
> I'm a *retired* programmer. I work hard at not posting an
> endless stream of nitpicking corrections to this or that, which
> would come naturally from that background. What's worse, I was
> an EECS major at UC Berkeley...so some hardware along with the
> software.
>
> To be fair, I was married to a linguist for 51 years, and some of
> that probably rubbed off as well.
>
> As regards FORTRAN...which versions? I started with FORTRAN II.

Dorothy corrected my postings MANY times over the years. But, graciously.

I started with Fortran IV in 1975. I am 63, I started writing Fortran
for my Dad in 1975. I learned Fortran from his five programmers and the
awesome Daniel McCracken book.
https://www.amazon.com/guide-Fortran-IV-programming/dp/0471582816/

I still write Fortran code almost every day, along with C++ code. But,
Fortran 77. It is my goal to convert all of my 720,000 lines of F77
code to C++ before I die. Right now, I am porting my F77 code to Win64.
It is going very slowly due to my extensive usage of C pointers in the
F77 code.

Lynn

In article <ufneko$15ple$2@dont-email.me>,
Lynn McGuire <lynnmcguire5@gmail.com> wrote:
>On 10/5/2023 5:08 PM, Dorothy J Heydt wrote:
>> In article <ufn544$13tdo$2@dont-email.me>,
>> Lynn McGuire <lynnmcguire5@gmail.com> wrote:
>>> On 10/5/2023 9:28 AM, Don wrote:
>>>> Don wrote:
>>>>> Dorothy J Heydt wrote:
>>>>>> Lynn McGuire wrote:
>>>>>>> Dorothy J Heydt wrote:
>>>>>>>> In article <ufkf5u$fn6u$1@dont-email.me>,
>>>>>>>> Lynn McGuire wrote:
>>>>>>>>> very unique
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> [Hal Heydt]
>>>>>>>> Say, what?
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Did you read the book ? Most of the people on the generation starship
>>>>>>> were supposedly immortals. Turned out they were not immortals after
>>>>>>> all. I thought putting so-called immortals on a generation starship was
>>>>>>> unique.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> [Hal Heydt]
>>>>>> I don't need to read the book to question "very unique." Either
>>>>>> something is unique or it isn't. Unique doesn't take
>>>>>> comparatives nor superlatives.
>>>>>
>>>>> A unique dilemma:
>>>>>
>>>>> <https://duckduckgo.com/?q="degrees+of+uniqueness"+site:edu>
>>>>>
>>>>> <https://duckduckgo.com/?q="relatively+unique"+site:edu>
>>>>
>>>> To become smarter every day (as they say) learn to avoid placing
>>>> quotation marks within the body of an URL's less-than and greater-than
>>>> signs.
>>>>
>>>> Allow me to make my links more "one clickable" and simultaneously
>>>> sharpen the horns of a unique dilemma:
>>>>
>>>> While pure English supports Hal:
>>>>
>>>> <https://duckduckgo.com/?q=%22no+degrees+of+uniqueness%22+site:edu&ia=web>
>>>>
>>>> higher education's practical English breaks the rule:
>>>>
>>>> <https://duckduckgo.com/?q=%22relatively+unique%22+site:edu&ia=web>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> A similar purely practical predicament also appears in _Atlas Shrugged_
>>>> (Rand)
>>>>
>>>> "It is only in the realm of pure science that truth is an absolute
>>>> criterion. When we deal with applied science, with technology-we
>>>> deal with people. And when we deal with people, considerations
>>>> other than truth enter the question." [said Dr. Robert Stadler]
>>>>
>>>> Danke,
>>>
>>> Oh, Hal is correct. But, I am not a wordsmith, I am a programmer. I
>>> sling words to build mathematical calculations, not to persuade,
>>> entertain, or convince my arguments.
>>
>> [Hal Heydt]
>> I'm a *retired* programmer. I work hard at not posting an
>> endless stream of nitpicking corrections to this or that, which
>> would come naturally from that background. What's worse, I was
>> an EECS major at UC Berkeley...so some hardware along with the
>> software.
>>
>> To be fair, I was married to a linguist for 51 years, and some of
>> that probably rubbed off as well.
>>
>> As regards FORTRAN...which versions? I started with FORTRAN II.
>
>Dorothy corrected my postings MANY times over the years. But, graciously.

[Hal Heydt]
She was good at that. On the other hand, you *never* wanted her
made at you. She immortalized one person in an SCA filk piece by
describing him as being in the Bolgia of the flatterers in
Dante's version of Hell.

>I started with Fortran IV in 1975. I am 63, I started writing Fortran
>for my Dad in 1975. I learned Fortran from his five programmers and the
>awesome Daniel McCracken book.
> https://www.amazon.com/guide-Fortran-IV-programming/dp/0471582816/
>
>I still write Fortran code almost every day, along with C++ code. But,
>Fortran 77. It is my goal to convert all of my 720,000 lines of F77
>code to C++ before I die. Right now, I am porting my F77 code to Win64.
> It is going very slowly due to my extensive usage of C pointers in the
>F77 code.

FORTRAN IID on a 1620 Mod. I in 1964, along with SPS IID, the
assembly language for the same machine. Got FORTRAN IV at Cal in
1966 on a CDC 6400.

>> >> I don't need to read the book to question "very unique." Either=20
>> >> something is unique or it isn't. Unique doesn't take=20
>> >> comparatives nor superlatives.=20

I had a friend in high school who got just a tiny little bit pregnant.
--scott

--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."

James Nicoll wrote:

>Five Ways Generation Ships Are Doomed to Fail in Science Fiction

A recent generation ship example is Noumenon by Marina J. Lostetter. In
this the generations are clones of scientists and such. That's because
this isn't a colonization effort, but a journey to research a stellar
anomaly.

Brian

On Wednesday, October 4, 2023 at 10:09:46 AM UTC-5, James Nicoll wrote:
> Five Ways Generation Ships Are Doomed to Fail in Science Fiction
>
> Do you really hate your descendants? Then by all means, board a
> generation ship.
>
> https://www.tor.com/2023/10/04/five-ways-generation-ships-are-doomed-to-fail-in-science-fiction/

To my mind, the concept of a 'generation ship' only makes sense given a couple of predicates. I don't think it would ever make sense to set out from scratch to launch a generation ship mission. All the issues the SFnal writers mention could and in many cases likely would haunt the project. The only ways it would make sense is:

1. Emergency exit. Either something Bad is about to happen to Earth/the Solar System (or whatever home is launching the mission) and escape is the only hope, or possibly more probably, a group is facing extinction or worse from some other group and must either flee or die. In that scenario, the risks don't much matter because your descendants have nothing to lose anyway.. They'll either be born on the genship or they won't be born at all.

2. The more probable predicate, to my mind, would be an already-extent space-based community decides to move for whatever reason. They might be fleeing something or someone, or seeking a star system with fresh resources, or whatever, but in this case they are by definition _already_ a functioning, viable society and community, possibly already have been such for generations, so moving doesn't change much for daily life. If they're already living in, say, an O'Neil cylinder, or a more practical future version of such a thing, then in a real sense they're already on the genship, and have been since a Long Time Ago and moving is just a matter of...well...moving. If the technology is advanced enough, such a community might move from star to star more than once as circumstances dictate, and internal life might not vary much because of it.

Though the 'potential subsequent faster ship' issue always hangs over such a project in any case other than the 'home is gone' scenario.

In article <77fab304-95de-428b-9ed9-0921ec438bd8n@googlegroups.com>,
Johnny1A <johnny1a.again@gmail.com> wrote:
>On Wednesday, October 4, 2023 at 10:09:46 AM UTC-5, James Nicoll wrote:
>> Five Ways Generation Ships Are Doomed to Fail in Science Fiction
>>
>> Do you really hate your descendants? Then by all means, board a
>> generation ship.
>>
>>
>https://www.tor.com/2023/10/04/five-ways-generation-ships-are-doomed-to-fail-in-science-fiction/
>
>To my mind, the concept of a 'generation ship' only makes sense given a
>couple of predicates. I don't think it would ever make sense to set out
>from scratch to launch a generation ship mission. All the issues the
>SFnal writers mention could and in many cases likely would haunt the
>project. The only ways it would make sense is:
>
>1. Emergency exit. Either something Bad is about to happen to
>Earth/the Solar System (or whatever home is launching the mission) and
>escape is the only hope, or possibly more probably, a group is facing
>extinction or worse from some other group and must either flee or die.
>In that scenario, the risks don't much matter because your descendants
>have nothing to lose anyway. They'll either be born on the genship or
>they won't be born at all.
>
>2. The more probable predicate, to my mind, would be an already-extent
>space-based community decides to move for whatever reason. They might
>be fleeing something or someone, or seeking a star system with fresh
>resources, or whatever, but in this case they are by definition
>_already_ a functioning, viable society and community, possibly already
>have been such for generations, so moving doesn't change much for daily
>life. If they're already living in, say, an O'Neil cylinder, or a more
>practical future version of such a thing, then in a real sense they're
>already on the genship, and have been since a Long Time Ago and moving
>is just a matter of...well...moving. If the technology is advanced
>enough, such a community might move from star to star more than once as
>circumstances dictate, and internal life might not vary much because of
>it.
>
>Though the 'potential subsequent faster ship' issue always hangs over
>such a project in any case other than the 'home is gone' scenario.
>
>

Eh. We're all on a generation ship, and people's descendants come to
bad ends all the time.
--
columbiaclosings.com
What's not in Columbia anymore..

On Friday, 6 October 2023 at 00:46:20 UTC+1, Dorothy J Heydt wrote:
> In article <ufneko$15ple$2...@dont-email.me>,
> Lynn McGuire <lynnmc...@gmail.com> wrote:
> >Dorothy corrected my postings MANY times over the years. But, graciously.
>
> [Hal Heydt]
> She was good at that. On the other hand, you *never* wanted her
> made at you. She immortalized one person in an SCA filk piece by
> describing him as being in the Bolgia of the flatterers in
> Dante's version of Hell.

As for correctness, language is what people say.
And so, damn them all. :-) What can't you all
use a word to mean what I want it to mean?

I just had this, right here, with (I said not my
field) the quantity of genetic data called a
"megabase (pair)" - exclusively by scientists,
I'm assuming - which seems to be credibly
documented with the meaning of "quite a lot".
By. Scientists.