Comments on: Faith: An Entrepreneurial Attribute

By: Josh

Josh — Mon, 01 Jan 2007 18:16:00 +0000

basically you need some kind of drive to get out of bed every morning and try to build the future.

By: kert

kert — Mon, 01 Jan 2007 17:36:00 +0000

OT but someone suggested a wiki for ideas discussed by Jon in one of the recent comment thread. I think http://www.lunarpedia.org/ fits the bill.

By: Pete

Pete — Sun, 31 Dec 2006 05:14:00 +0000

Interestingly to me I was talking with my little sister’s partner over Christmas, a political advisor who also happens to be ordained. My background is more philosophy, however I found it interesting that he had a similar understanding of belief to myself. Most religions do indeed rise above beliefs and faith at the higher levels, though I was a little surprised to see this in the flesh.

With most religions the common practitioner gets the greatly simplified, (which is kind of what belief actually means), black and white version which is far easier to grasp. The more able see the deeper truths where everything becomes fuzzier and more probabilistic, necessitating a more flexible mind, (think neural network instead of ones and zeros). Apparently within this context “faith” is more aptly translated from the older texts as “trust”. Religious or non religious, beliefs and faith are for those who find such life simplifications easier – for the rest of us, simplifying things to such an extent is obviously neither wise or necessary. I am not a space advocate out of faith or belief, nor am I lacking in intentionality.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Sun, 31 Dec 2006 04:19:00 +0000

No amount of faith changes the fact that Ares 1 and Ares 5 are uneconomic and possibly the most inefficient vehicles capable of reaching the moon after the shuttle, that CEV is 15T overweight to justify the use of these vehicles, and that the EOR/LLO rendezvous approach using these vehicles is moronic.

This is a engineering welfare/pork project. Not a sensible plan for performing lunar science.

By: Jon Goff

Jon Goff — Sun, 31 Dec 2006 01:58:00 +0000

Pete,
I think you also misunderstood what I was saying. I know that faith often has the connotation of "blind belief in something you cannot prove". I don't look at faith that way. My point was that it is impossible to "prove" anything before it has happened, so even "playing the odds" as you see them is an act of faith. You don't know that either your primary plan or backup plan will work, but you have sufficient evidence that you're willing to take the risk on the faith that you've done your homework well enough that you'll get something like the outcome who expect.

True faith is never blind. It is based on evidence and experience.

~Jon

By: redneck

redneck — Sun, 31 Dec 2006 01:15:00 +0000

Pete,

Belief is a requirement to function. If you did not believe you would get a paycheck, you wouldn’t be motivated to work.
If you don’t believe you can improve your life, you will not do the things necessary to improve it.

By: Pete

Pete — Sun, 31 Dec 2006 01:04:00 +0000

As a cynical athiest I bet on the odds as I can best estimate them. I do not bet out of faith in a given outcome, that would be silly and completely unnecesary. Playing the odds means not staking everything on one outcome, you cover yourself as circumstances warrant. This should not make one less motivated. Point being, if your are taking this seriously, belief is not required and actually gets in the way.

By: Bill White

Bill White — Sat, 30 Dec 2006 05:28:00 +0000

It is someone else's faith to be sure, however, I believe there is a religious saying to the effect:

If the Mountain won't come to Mohammed, Mohammed will go to the Mountain.

Translated into NewSpace business lingo --> Go to where the money is.

Where the money is:

"Communications and research consultants Blackfriars Communications, Inc. (Blackfriars) today announced that they project marketing spending at U.S. companies will be nearly $1.074 trillion this year. In their first ever sizing of the U.S. marketing market, they found that if marketing were a vertical industry, it would represent about 9% of the gross domestic product of the United States, and it would rank as the fifth largest industry, behind manufacturing, government, real estate, and professional services. "

$1.074 TRILLION DOLLARS! Per year!

How tiny of a slice would you need to fund your lunar architecture, Jon Goff?

You say a lunar landing cannot be sold NASCAR style? Where is your faith?

Anyway, where else will you find a trillion dollar industry to tap into. And remember -- take some foreign astronauts since that $1 trillion is US expenditures only.

By: redneck

redneck — Fri, 29 Dec 2006 10:03:00 +0000

This post sums up the business world from my POV. I know a half dozen or so people that have become millionairs in the last ten years. None of them got there by looking at the dark side, and not by sitting home and waiting for someone else to do it for them. You can’t sustain 70-90 hour weeks for years unless you believe. You don’t risk everything you own and can borrow unless you believe.