Elensaar's Scribbles

I don’t understand how this is such a low priority among human beings. We know for a fact that at some point our planet will stop being a hospitable place. Even if we do get lucky and don’t get hit by a planet-killer-sized rock, even if we somehow manage to artificially control our planets natural “too cold to be fun”/”too hot to be cool” cycle, someday our sun will burn out and in the process swollow our planet whole. In short it’s not a question of if we need to get out of here, it’s a question of when. And I say sooner is better than later. Why take chances?

In that context, it’s hard to understand why we seem so unwilling to invest in finding a way to get out of this petri dish that is so easy to sterilize… Is there really an upper limit of cost we are willing to accept for our survival?

Yes, the technology we have for even getting into orbit is extremely expensive and ineffective. But there are solutions, like the space elevator, that could fix that. The initial investment in a space elevator is huge, granted, but once it’s set up it soon pays for itself. And once mining operations get going in the solar system, the energy expenditure for moving something into orbit becomes zero, as there will probably be more stuff coming down than going up. It will also enable us to build all our craft in orbit already, which will eliminate much of the cost of travelling further. The most costly part is after all the fuel needed to get up there in the first place.

Once it’s that easy to get up there, we can start by going back to the moon. It will be a short and easy trip away. And once we go to Mars, we start by stopping in orbit and dropping down the cable for an elevator there as well. There are already several good theoretical plans for terraforming Mars and other planets we might find out there like it.

Of course, the solar system isn’t a place we can stay for long anyway. On a cosmic scale, that is. By the time the sun burns out we need to be somewhere else entirely. But once we have the solar system available to draw resources from, that task becomes easier to overcome. The first possibility that comes to mind is generational ships. Huge hulks that travel to distant stars carrying enormous crews. These would have to be really gigantic, since it would require a self-sustainable population. It is, after all, not the crew that leaves that colonizes the planet they head for. It might not even be their children og grandchildren, depending on the starsystem they head for.

There are also some interesting ideas out there for faster ships, even some ideas for how we could possibly beat the famous speed-limit of the universe. Well, cheat, really. Not move the ship itself, but the space around it… I’ll try to fish up some links and post them here soon.

No matter which way we use, I hope more people will get their eyes opened to the fact that we really need to get off this rock. A saying about eggs and baskets comes to mind…

After a recommendation from a friend, I picked up the book “The Primal Blueprint” (TPB) two weeks ago, and started reading the authors’ website/blog http://www.marksdailyapple.com. And almost right away it was decided: I’m going Primal!

TPB bases itself around the theory that humans have, through the rise of agriculture, removed most of the evolutionary pressures on themselves. Once the need to be extremely fit (in an evolutionary sense) in order to get enough food was more or less removed some 10000 years ago, our evolution has slowed down to a crawl. With the relative abundance of food available once we started herding animals and, above all, growing grains, if you can reach puberty you can procreate. This has lead to most modern humans eating a diet, and living a life, that we’re not evolved for. TPB aims to change that. Through 10 simple laws it tries to help you live closer to what your body is built for, and thus be fitter and feel more content. Mark Sisson, the author, bases his theories on diet, workout and lifestyle on medical and other research as well as his own experience, a mix that is very convincing to me. I geek out over the scientific stuff, and the personal experiences of both him and other readers of the site are enough “anecdotal” proof for me.

So for two weeks now, I’ve been trying to live primally. And let me tell you, it’s… really easy and comfortable. I’ve cut all grains and refined sugar from my diet, living on delicious meat, vegetables, fruit and berries. I walk to work, or into town along the river, do a few bodyweight exercises and a sprint now and again, and try to be outside to catch all the sun I can. And I’ve done my best to regulate my sleeping patterns. Not easy for a gamer, geek and developer rolled into the package that is me…

The new way of life has already done wonders for my metabolism and digestion. I’ve gone from being exhausted if I skip a single meal, to sometimes forgetting to eat lunch because my energy level stays so constant throughout the day. And almost all of the trouble I’ve had with my digestion, that no doctor could figure out despite mountains of tests, has just disappeared. Even the sugar cravings have all but gone.

I also love the exercise, never thought that would happen. But walking a lot is no problem and has become really enjoyable, and even though I’m a bit sore from lifting heavy things yesterday my body feels great. I’ve decided on two goals with the exercise, really:

1. I want to be fit enough to do just about anything. Functional fitness, I believe people are calling it. I want to have the strength, agility, energy and endurance to be able to try any challenge thrown at me. Once the snowboard season starts up I want be out playing in the snow as much as I can, and I’m looking forward to starting my second season on a longboard this spring, hopefully fitter than I’ve been in a long time.
2. LGN, or Looking Good Naked. I want to see myself in the mirror and not wonder why my girl wants me. (Oh, ok… I’ll probably still wonder, but at least my body won’t be what I’m wondering about.) It might sound a little vain. Hell, it is. But I don’t think there’s anyone out there that doesn’t, at some level, want to look their best. I definitely intend to look my best.

I’ll try to update this blog once a week or so with my progress with this. It’ll be fun for me to look back and see where I started and my ups and downs with this. Right now I’m really having fun thinking up recipes on the fly for dinners that don’t involve rice or potatoes (OK, there is the occasional potato, but only because I love potatoes…). I still have my “beer belly”, my push-up and squat counts are abysmal and I can barely hold a plank without shaking like a plateful of jelly, but hopefully that will change with time now that I’ve Gone Primal. UGH!

Just a short frustration vent… I appreciate the multitude of choice offered by the plugins, themes and widgets and whatnot for WordPress, but it can also be extremely frustrating. Trying to find decent ways to post to Twitter and Facebook when I update this page has been a pain. Hopefully this will work now, I appreciate any advice anyone might have.

Yes, I know… What a tired cliché of a first post on my new blog. Sue me…

If you expect this blog to be overly innovative, shocking or even regular, think again. I might have views that will shock the narrow-minded among you, and I will not hesitate to share them, but mostly this will just be me venting about whatever I feel like venting about.

As way of introduction, well… I’m an open Transformers, Doctor Who and Star Wars fan, a software developer, a gamer – and therefore by definition a geek. I’m also a party animal, not completely out of shape and living with the world’s most beautiful girl (yes, I’m a hopeless romantic, deal with it). Having been born in Poland and raised in Norway, I consider myself to be neither Polish or Norwegian. What am I, you ask? I dunno… Maybe someday I’ll find out, and then you’ll have front row tickets to watch me vent about that…

Yeah… That’s it for now, I guess. Content will magically appear as I feel the need to blow off steam or just write for the sake of writing. We’ll see what comes of this – believe me, I’ll be as surprised as you…

For the time being feel free to look me up on Twitter or Facebook, I usually don’t bite as long as I’ve had my first coffee of the day.