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Do you set an expiry date for your life on earth? Won’t need the car then, cancel the insurance policy, best sell the house now while the market is hot

My life changed on Wednesday 28th of September, just a little bit.

I watched a video, that changed my thinking about what life can be. I’m talking about Elon Musk unveiling his plan of making humans a multi-planetary species. He’s going to Mars.

If you haven’t watched the video, do it now. The whole thing. I’ll wait. I have time. At least 10 years.

Somehow Elon was able to articulate an incredibly complex problem, entire theoretical up to now, and make it approachable, almost… doable. Suddenly, there is a new question to consider. It’s a biggie.

How does this affect you?

I see two basic reactions to the video, both of which will take time to become socially acceptable. If you want to go, are you saying life on earth sucks and you are willing to leave everything behind? If you don’t want to go yourself, but want to contribute, is that some kind of crazy career and financial suicide?

Also Read: Here’s what you can learn from Mark Zuckerberg, Jack Dorsey, Elon Musk

This isn’t like Google Glass where early adopters were seen as geeky douchebags in breaking social norms around personal privacy. We’re talking about leaving the planet forever. Not BFF forever. Real life forever. The only thing that might come close is the concept of going to heaven, i.e. continuing your life somewhere outside the realm of our current reality. If you choose to believe in such things. It’s pretty much that dramatic.

As I was watching the video my mind began racing with the new possibilities, the implications, the questions, so many questions. Not to Elon, because he made his position and scope quite clear, but this just opens an entirely new realm of thinking that has never been necessary. Not for regular people, at least. I’ve been a space geek my entire life, I’ve watched The Martian, but never did it really occur to me that it might be me there on that empty red planet. During my actual lifetime, and not in some daydream where I was already an astronaut. It could be me, just as I am in real life.

So let’s dive into the two basic reactions you might be experiencing.

#1: I want to be a Martian

So you want to jump on the big rocket, do you? I don’t blame you, this is the stuff of dreams. Here’s a glimpse into your red planet itinerary. Zero gravity sports and hanging out at Elon’s Pizzeria, sounds like a real brofest!

So if you want to go, do you happen to have a house worth of cash for your Mars fund? If not, how far are you willing to take this immediately? Sell your house the moment you can to put in a deposit? Will you continue to pursue your Earthly career, your earthly love life, your earthly family plans? Liquidate your retirement fund? Start a Kickstarter? Add a reminder for January 2026 labeled “Pick up dry cleaning, go to Mars”?

Do you set an expiry date for your life on earth? Won’t need the car then, cancel the insurance policy, best sell the house now while the market is hot… I’m 100 per cent sure there are people out there who have already done this. Probably while watching the video.

The implications are far reaching. Elon didn’t point out any specific requirements for the trip to Mars, but given the immense risks involved, you might make some assumptions about physical and mental preparation. Best start flossing and jogging again, this time for real!

#2: I want to help Martians

Even if you yourself don’t imagine going there with your own physical body, you might still be incredibly inspired by this future scenario, and wondering how you might contribute. Let’s remember, Elon made it clear that SpaceX is the railway to Mars, they’re not thinking about what to do once there. He’s forcing a wave of technological advancement, that is suddenly needed because of this new possibility. What is life on Mars going to be like? That’s on us. That’s on you.

Elon compared this scenario to building a railway into California back when it was a wild frontier. Nobody needed to go there at the time, but creating the railway created California as we know it today. Another example going further back is the migration to the New World by continental Europeans. It was going to be tough. Nothing but hard work and opportunity awaiting, millions of brave souls decided to venture into the unknown. It’s part of our spirit as humans, even if somewhat forgotten by us modern counterparts to Magellan and Columbus.

Also Read: The ‘Chinese SpaceX’ will test space balloon flights with animals this year

Except this time, you can’t just pack your knapsack and sneak onto the next schooner like in ye olde 1700’s. You can’t wing it on Mars. Before we even start thinking about things like warming up Mars or building up the atmosphere, humans on Mars will be living on life support for a long time. In case you’re not on the next private flight to the International Space Station, the easiest way to get a glimpse of that feeling is scuba diving. Just 30 meters under the surface, your life depends on technology.

There are many failure points, one of them a tiny sliver of rubber the size of a coin. If the tech fails, your chances of making it out alive are slim. If you run out of air, you suffocate to death. If you panic and swim up, your blood basically boils with nitrogen poisoning. That’s why you have a buddy system in scuba diving. If your gear and backup both fail, you can use your buddy’s backup. So you can imagine how designing for sustainable life for millions on Mars introduces some challenges.

Imagine. You could be that guy. Enabling the first kegger on Mars. Probably at Elon’s Pizzeria.

If you’re an engineer, can you start thinking about what type of power plants are needed on Mars? Methane? Solar? Nuclear? You could think about habitats. Ground transport. Mining for resources. How to use all that frozen water for oxygen. Heck, someone has to put WiFi on Mars! They’ll need gyms. Hospitals. Crematoriums. Or that zero-g pizza oven for Elon’s Pizzeria.

How do you finance such an endeavor, which would see cash flow in maybe 15 years from now? Modern society operates on a quarterly basis. How do you justify looking forward 60 quarters? Who takes that bet? Is there a way to look at this rationally as a business opportunity, or is that actually against the spirit of the whole endeavour? Idealists only, capitalists need not apply?

So many questions…

How do they decide who goes first? If you have more money, can you skip the queue? Is this is for individuals or can you go as a family if your children are adults? Is it first come first serve, or random, or some type of qualification process? Is this all going to be run by SpaceX or some independent third party?

Who is going to step up to solve how everything works on Mars? As Elon stated it takes someone without a commercial agenda to pursue such a grandiose dream. That kind of disqualifies earthly industrialists from pursuing Mars. Do we need more Elons to take on those tasks? Do we even have more Elons? Why should GE think about building power plants on Mars when there’s plenty to do here? Who gets to decide if commercial motives are allowed, is there a committee of Elons to decide which companies can pack their gear on his ships?

Using Elon math, if each person were to cost US$200,000 then a civilisation of a million people would be just US$200 billion. Hmmph. In the context of a lot of useless things going on in the world today, that’s almost pedestrian. Apple was just fined US$15 billion for some taxes in Europe. They can afford it with an estimated US$300 billion in cash. Heck, they could probably name it iMars if they wanted to.

Banks are regularly fined billions for breaking regulations. For context, the 2008 subprime mortgage crisis sliced an estimated US$15,000 billion off the world economy. Yeesh. There are dozens of companies whose annual profits are measured in tens of billions. There are now thousands of billionaires on Earth. What if Bill Gates decided to swing his US$80 billion? Does that give him any authority over the project, or Mars itself?

Who will run Mars? Will we consider nationality or national interests? If not, how do we prevent that? How does NASA fit in with their Mars missions? Will it be a democratic society? Can that be decided by earth somehow, or will Martians have complete authority? How will power and authority be divided among those who arrive first, and those that come along later? Are we expecting to mine resources from Mars for the benefit or earth, or focus on building up Mars as an independent society?

Once you arrive, will you get a job automatically? Can you choose? Will there be money in the sense that we have it on earth? Will every man and woman has a right to land? Or are we looking at some kind of moneyless utopia without ownership, where each get their share of resources based on individual contribution? Marx would be proud.

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This article was first published on LinkedIn. 

The views expressed here are of the author’s, and e27 may not necessarily subscribe to them. e27 invites members from Asia’s tech industry and startup community to share their honest opinions and expert knowledge with our readers. If you are interested in sharing your point of view, submit your article here. 

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