Many of the most iconic science fiction stories, including Star Wars, Deep Space 9, and Battlestar Galactica, are predicated on the idea of politically motivated violence in outer space. They posit that humans capable of interplanetary and interstellar travel will still have cohesive political values and, if pushed, rebel against forces representing alternative ideals. Many movies and books are all-but dismissive of diplomacy as a means of resolving conflict. This lack of interest in treaties and talks makes sense from a narrative perspective (remember Episode Two?) but not from a techno-political one. Because sustaining human life in space, mutually assured destruction is baked into orbital relations. For that reason, being a space despot like Baron Harkonnen in Dune would be a big ask. When we take to the stars, laser-free insurgencies may become a norm.
University of Edinburgh Astrobiology Professor Charles Cockell, author of the book Dissent, Revolution and Liberty Beyond Earth, spends a lot of time thinking about space battles and how mankind could learn to resolve its differences in a non-Earth environment. This bears thinking about, Cockell explains, because the potential for loss of life and destruction in space is deeply problematic. And Earth solutions don’t necessarily translate.
“Destructive revolution is something to be avoided in space,” he told Inverse, “But dissent is good - it’s part of the continuous re-adjustment of society to new conditions - conflicting views about the way to deal with problems that are brought into collision resulting in a conclusion, which if wrong, can be further changed by the next round of dissent.”
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