elon-musk-marsShort Bytes: SpaceX and Tesla founder Elon Musk is eager to take the Humanity to Mars. He refuses to discount the possibility of the next World War that will send us back in a technologically underdeveloped past.

It wasn’t long ago when Elon Musk shared his desire to nuke Mars, making it warmer and habitable. To makes his Mars mission a reality, he starts off his most workweeks at his rocket company SpaceX and makes further space travel plans with his team. In a recent interview with GQ, Musk has expressed concerns over the possibility of a third World War and how it could hamper his Mars Mission.

The lengthy interview covered many topics like Tesla autopilot cars, taking the Mankind to Mars, space suits, Hyperloop and other short instances from a science fiction movie. Calling the desire to become a multi-planetary species a good common sense, he justifies the same by saying, “You back up your hard drive…. Maybe we should back up life, too?”

So, is it as easy as backing up your computer’s hard drive? The answer is a simple NO. But, SpaceX is working day and night to making its quest a reality. It’s developing a reusable rocket technology that will be needed to transport a large number of people and luggage to Mars.

Musk is now 44 and he believes that first manned Mars mission will be possible in his fifties. Keeping aside the current technological constraints, Musk worries about what other things might destroy his “Mars colonial transport” dream.

He says:

There’s a window that could be opened for a long time or a short time where we have an opportunity to establish a self-sustaining base on Mars before something happens to drive the technology level on Earth below where it’s possible. So does the base become self-sustaining before spaceships from Earth stop going?

While we assume that with time technology marches ahead, Musk doesn’t forget to remind us of the times in human history when human conflicts pushed us backward. He fears that another World War will set back the Humanity in numerous ways.

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Going a step further, he tosses the idea of third World War and some strong anti-technology movement:

I don’t think we can discount the possibility of a third World War. You know, in 1912 they were proclaiming a new age of peace and prosperity, saying that it was a golden age, war was over. And then you had World War I followed by World War II followed by the Cold War. So I think we need to acknowledge that there’s certainly a possibility of a third World War, and if that does occur it could be far worse than anything that’s happened before. Let’s say nuclear weapons are used. I mean, there could be a very powerful social movement that’s anti-technology.

While this might seem like a script of the next Hollywood blockbuster coming to the cinemas near you, we can’t reject such possibilities. As the number of cultural and political conflicts in our world are increasing, we are just a few signals and gestures away from a World War.

Do you agree with Elon Musk and his fears? Tell us in the comments below.

Source: Elon Musk – GQ

Also read: How Elon Musk Wants To Save The World From “Evil Computers” With New OpenAI