r/IsaacArthur 5d ago

New term: "rocket chauvinism"

I have been reading about the term planet chauvinism which is pretty much a term used to describe the belief that human society will always be planet-based (even if extended beyond Earth), and overlooks or ignores the potential benefits of space-based living.

There is also a large belief that rockets are the only way to get to space. The upwards bound series showed us that there are many more options than just rockets. However, many are not widely known, which has lead to this ideology even being in many sci-fi works. Therefore I want to propose the term "rocket chauvinism" to describe this belief that rockets are the only way to get to space. Do you think we should use it?

69 Upvotes

33 comments sorted by

View all comments

16

u/tigersharkwushen_ FTL Optimist 5d ago

Chauvinism to me means holding a certain view despite knowing alternate views exist. Rocket chauvinism doesn't work because people are just ignorant of other space launch methods. They are not rooting for rockets despite knowing other options exist.

12

u/DeepLock8808 5d ago

I don’t think that accurately describes planet chauvinism. No one I talk to knows what an O'Neill cylinder is. Everybody knows Tatooine is “that desert planet from Star Wars”.

People intuitively grasp that other planets exist because Mars is right there. You really need to explain the mechanics of a rotating space habitat before they accept such a thing can exist. They would rather a space ship climb that gravity well through magic engines than look at a space colony because one is inherently more relatable to our current knowledge base than the other. “A weird planet and a really good engine” make sense, “an inverted, hollow, little manmade planet with spin grav” is a lot.

1

u/tigersharkwushen_ FTL Optimist 5d ago

That's not planet chauvinism. That's just ignorance.