My religion, for lack of a better word, is that is one of curiosity, where we want to expand the scope of scale of consciousness on Earth and beyond Earth and ultimately to other star systems. And in order to do that, we need to increase the number of conscious beings, and we need to advance technology such that we can have our self sustaining sitting on Mars, ultimately populate the whole Solar System, and then go beyond our Solar system to
other star systems. And therefore we need more humans. So I mean, that's an amazingly different goal than what we've had for the past. Yeah. I propose this as a new philosophy. Yeah, well not new, but maybe niche, but niche but hopefully getting a bit bigger. So you know,
with that philosophy in mind. But the purpose of that philosophy is that is that the more we expand the scope a scale of consciousness, the more we are able to understand the reality that we live in the nature of the universe, and and to uh to answer the questions that we have, and perhaps more importantly, to know what questions we are not asking, as Douglas Adams would say, and Hitchhack's got to the galaxy that the answer is the
easy part. The question is the hard part. You know, answers forty two. What's the question? So, so, I think that's a pretty optimistic. Positive philosophy also has a lot of room for other beliefs if you want to add them to. You know. But but the fundamental tents of my belief structure are expand the escape, expand the scale of consciousness. I mean, more more people, I guess, more computers to to the agree
that they are conscious. Uh, and we want to pass through the uh one of the great filters that to you know, you believe the Pomy paradox and the great filter. Now, okay, So Enrico Fermi, great amazing physicist, posed a very simple question. He said, we're the aliens because we've seen no sign of them. Now, a lot of people think they've seen signs of aliens. I've seen no evidence whatsoever of aliens. So it's
a troubling question. Why why not? So one of the answers, perhaps the most likely answer, is that we're it that the tiny that that the tiny candle of consciousness that constitutes humanity. It is all that there is in this vast darkness, and I think we should we should assume that that is the case until we actually firm evidence to the contrary. And we and moreover,
human consciousness only arose after four and a half billion years. It took a long time, and if it had taken even ten percent longer, it probably would not have evolved because the Sun is expanding. As a sun expands, it'll start heating Earth, and Earth will the oceans will evaporate, will become more like venus inhospitable to life. So I think we may have made we may have achieved consciousness or consciousness that's capable of developing technology just in time.
I find it remarkable that we are at this point in history where we're able for the first time to go beyond Earth, to send people. We send people to the Moon in the early seventies, but not essence, not gone back. But with the Starship rocket that SpaceX is developing, but two test flights will have many more this year. That that vehicle is designed to make life multiplanetary. It's the first vehicle that are just capable of doing that. A permanent base on the Moon and a city on Mars. So I
think we want to get that done as soon as possible. The window for the window of opportunity to make life multiplanetary and secure the future of consciousness may be open for a long time, or it may be open for a short time. I think it would be wise to not assume that it'll be opened for a long time. And when we act now, to act now to make life multiplanetary. One thing that's fascinating what you're saying is that it assumes an innate level of belief and and love for human beings. And so I
love humanity. So why, I mean, it's it's it's a weird question, but I mean, really kind of why. I mean, we're not that great. I mean we have great we can be angels, we can be devils, obviously, we have the capacity for all of the things in between. What do you think makes, aside from just the qualities that theoretically could be duplicated by AI in the very near future, that makes human beings unique enough. I'll tell you something so that I think that maybe resonates.
It's like, I think, actually everyone loves humanity. Now they may not love everyone in humanity, but you say, how many people want to be in solatary confinement. Okay, how many people when I live alone in the forest by themselves, Almost no human beings want to do that. That is actually, in reality, all humans love humanity and want to be part of humanity almost, you know, with the rare exception of someone who's growth spere
psychological issues. So that you know, that's why solatry confinement is considered a terrible punishment in prison, because even though other prisoners are probably not the well they're not the finest examples of humans, you still want to hang out with them, you know. So I think it's a natural thing. You know, it's long. As long as it's long, kids aren't towrd to hate other people. I think the natural inclination is to your love umanity. Are
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of mind. That's t NUSA dot com slash shapiro. I want to go back to some of the business conversation that I want to go back to the SpaceX of it when when it comes to business, what do you see as sort of the biggest obstacles to not only the success of your companies, but to success generally because there seems to be this idea abroad that people can't duplicate the path that basically it used to be that people like you could succeed,
but now it's totally finished and now you can't get ahead. Is Erica. Nothing's changed in that regard as far as nowhere there are you know, your companies being formed all the time in the US, Well, what do you see as the obstacles to companies being successful increasingly in the West? If there is, if there are obstacles to that, well, I think excess regulation. You know, taxes do ratch op every year, making a little difficult,
a little harder every year as taxes rat job. But the regulatory creep is I think a massive danger. So laws of regulations are immortal, but the regulators and the lawmakers make new rules of regulations and laws and regulations every year, and so you have this, so every year you've got this sort of another layer of laws regulations. It'suss getting to the point where everything's legal.
You can't get anything done. And you say, well, how do they deal with in the past, Well, the way they don't within the past, would there'd be a war and the war would wash away that the old rules, laws and regulations. That's that's would literally would take a war to change things, you know, like Napoleon, you know, establishing the Napoleonic Code from that overalled the old law systems of the sort of lords and
the lords and peasants. And if you know, for all that the bad that Napoleon did, I think it did more good actually, So the evidence isn't in that. I think maybe a third or a half of all countries on Earth still run on the Napoleon Code. So and I would would prefer to have some clean up process for laws and regulations that doesn't require war. That'd be nice, I think. And I think that's something we need to institute, like basically a garbage collection for laws and regulations