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Sawses t1_jbw2twu wrote

It's quite possible that a common "Great Filter" is space debris. Like it could be such a problem that it routinely keeps civilizations confined to their home planet.

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FillThisEmptyCup t1_jbw8i7f wrote

Possibly. More than possible, the great filter can certainly be some entropy problem where exponential complexity is accompanied by more than exponential energy needs, which eventually cannot be sourced locally.

Certainly most civilizational collapses could be described in such a manner, because sufficiently directed energy could readily solve most problems.

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Sotovya t1_jbyx29b wrote

Sounds like a cool science fiction movie. But that could sadly be our reality if we aren’t careful enough.

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No_Huckleberry_2905 t1_jc129m7 wrote

possible, but from my layman understanding quite unlikely. leaving our planet only requires going through orbit once, or maybe assembling a bigger craft for a limited time. if low earth orbit is too messed up you "simply" go up to 1000km+, where there's much less stuff spread over much more space. you'll need more energy to reach those orbits, but then again, it's energy you safe when you launch that thing.

of course that only works up to a point. i don't think 100k satellites in LEO, mostly deorbiting in a matter of years due to atmospheric drag, will be the problem it is hyped up to be, but going forward not decades, but centuries and more, i have no idea what humans think of next to fuck it all up even more.

so yeah, from the current standpoint i don't think that space debris or the kesser syndrom are, or will be, substantial problems. but time doesn't stop at 2050, who knows what happens after that.

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