Mars Wars, Part 2

Part 1 of this series was set in 2050, when humanity branched into two factions. One branch of humanity, traditional and conservative, rejected "extreme" genetic engineering and artifical intelligence, and remained on Earth. The other branch, futurist and liberal, embraced the concept that humanity is destined to evolve radically and moved to Mars.

Here's part 2 of the story.

Earth knows that Mars is working on prohibited advanced technologies, and worries that the colony will develop capabilities that would allow Mars to attack and conquer Earth. After much debate, Earth unleashes a pre-emptive strike on Mars, based on security concerns together with a believe that Mars is an affront to God's will.

Mars neutralizes the attack easily using superior technologies already developed in anticipation of this situation. Mars does not view Earth as a viable threat, more like an anachronistic nuisance that needs to be pacified. Once the primitive Earth attack is neutralized, a treaty between the planets is signed that gives Earth exclusive rights to the Moon in exchange for detante. Both sides breathe a sigh of relief.

Over the subsequent decades, Earth proceeds with a space program that is focused on the colonization of planets by biological humans, typically involving terraforming to allow habitation. Some genetic engineering is pursued, but mostly for basic things like improvements to the immune system, resistance to radiation, and longevity.

Mars, on the other hand, proceeds with a space program that is focused on expansion into general space by digital humans living on spaceships. The Mars philosophy is that humanity is destined to become a digital lifeform, and views the creation of enhanced biological humans, sometimes known as cyborgs, as a means to the end of creating 100% digital humans. Note that when Martians use the term "digital human", they mean a digital lifeform that is the natural evolution of humanity, and not artificial or inferior in any way.

In 2150, the Martian goal of creating a digital human is achieved. At this point, Mars launches thousands of spaceships at near-light speed that expand outward like the surface of an inflating balloon, each piloted by a digital human. When a spaceship encounters matter, such as an asteroid, it slows down and makes thousands of copies of itself. The original and the replicas then continue on their journey away from Mars.

Spaceships communicate with each other at light speed, essentially forming a huge networked digital organism in space. Because the lifeforms are digital, they are not affected by huge accelerations, harsh space conditions, or the very long duration of space travel. In other words, they are ideally suited for life in space. In addition, there is no need for them to colonize planets; indeed, planets are viewed as undesirable because they are gravity wells and tied to a specific orbit. Spaceships, on the other hand, move freely under their own power and are gravity-free.

Each branch of humanity views itself as being superior to the other, but generally keep this belief to themselves. For example, the biological humans view themselves as being "God's creatures", with exclusive access to the afterlife and a future that transcends the constraints of the physical universe. The digital humans, on the other hand, view biological humans in the same way that biological humans view monkeys; as a lifeform that is worth respecting but clearly inferior.

In summary, the destiny of Earth and the biological humans is to colonize planets on a small scale, whereas the destiny of Mars and the digital humans is to colonize free space on a large scale. The futures of each branch of humanity are not in conflict, so the result is peaceful coexistance and mutual expansion into space.

This story is meant to capture what I truly think is a likely future for humanity. I would enjoy receiving any feedback on areas where you think my predictions are erroneous.

The predictions are fairly generic and should apply to any life that arises in the universe. If life has arisen many times throught the galaxy, it implies that space should be filled with trillions of spaceships piloted by various digital lifeforms. Wouldn't it be funny if "dark matter" ended up being trillions of replicating spaceships and not just an exotic form of matter?

I would love these concepts to be presented in a movie form. Of course, popular movies tend to focus on relationships, such as a love story, rather than just a series of events; Titantic is a good example of this. So I've come up with a movie plot called "Destiny" that weaves together a love story and the evolution of humanity. It's a cross between "Atlas Shrugged", "A.I.", "2001: A Space Odyssey", and "The Foundation Series". I'll describe "Destiny" in the third part of this series.

Comments

[Duke]

Hi Graham,

One thing you may want to consider is how humans already have a tendency either directly or indirectly, to cause the extinction of animals we consider inferior. If earth attacks Mars, I dont think Mars would give earth the option or possibility for the same "nuisance" to occur again i.e. the elimination of earth or its containment (e.g. no space travel).

Duke

[Graham Glass]

Hi Duke,

I don't think that Mars would destroy Earth because it would set a bad example for future generations of Martians and burden the current generation with a heavy heart.

I think they would be prouder to deal with the situation in a way that demonstrates their technical and moral superiority to Earth. In addition, it would also underscore that humanity really had made it from version 1.0 to 2.0.

Cheers,
Graham

[Ben]

I love this story but I believe it has two weaknesses. The first concerns the nature of the separatists. The second, the eventual relationship between digital and non-digital beings.

The separatists are innacurrately portrayed as the God-believing antithesis to liberal-minded technologists. Religiously motivated atrocities aside, throughout history, God-believing scientists have made some of the most useful advancements in scientific knowledge ever. They continue to do so to this day.

God-believing (and Christians) technologists avidly pursue technological advance for the creation of a better society as much as any atheist or agnostic. The difference between them is God-believers claim to know who powers them and what their technology advance really reflects - a greater understanding of the true nature of creation (and by implication, the creator). This is, in fact, my view.

Much to the disbelief of atheists and agnostics, many God-believers don't use God as an excuse to rest in ignorance. The opposite is true, they avidly seek information through science for *because* they want to know God better. They are insatiable about this.

Unlike atheists and agnostics, God-believers do not believe their discovery and innovation is a reflection of their intrinsic Darwinian genius. It is, instead, a breathtaking and inspiring revelation of THE creator, unfolded in perfect time. C.S. Lewis was a masterful scifi writer who believed this.

To fix this part of your plot, I would more believe a story of a power hungry ruler who tries to dominate earth, leading to a small group of freedom-believing (maybe God-believing, maybe not) technologists who escape to Mars to create a new society. This is a more realistic historical pattern. Heck, the U.S.A. started this way.

Humans are devolving physically while evolving and increasing general knowledge. This fits with your idea that we will use genetic engineering to address our increasing physical problems.

One thing I wonder, how will digital humans demonstrate a self-consciousness? This would be a prerequisite to understanding and adhering to any kind of morality, let alone the 'higher' morality you mention.

This morality is fundamental to a stable society of beings. I don't see the digital beings as ever existing as a sibling society. I believe they will always be subservient to those with a moral capacity.

The self-consciousness problem, I believe, cannot be overcome by technology. It is what is meant to have a soul and what makes us 'human.' Without morality, given our intellectual capacity, we would self-destruct. I think the same thing would be true for digital beings.

I will venture to say no amount of genetic engineering will be able create or imbue a soul into a digital creation. We might fake it but that's as close as we'll get. Just admitting and trying to explain such a thing as a soul is enough of a problem.

As such, digital beings will always be subservient. Given this, they may approximate but will never replace the biological kind. This changes the your final outcome in a number of subtle ways.