Elon Musk: World War Three could ruin mission to get to Mars, destroy human technology
‘There could be a very powerful social movement that’s anti-technology’, in the case of a potential nuclear war, Mr Musk warned
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Your support makes all the difference.World War Three could ruin human civilisation and mean we only have a limited time to move to Mars, Elon Musk has warned.
The billionaire has said that he expects that humans could eventually move to Mars. But that could be thrown off by the destruction of technology in World War Three, Mr Musk has warned.
Mr Musk has been actively involved in the mission to get to Mars, and potentially live there. He set up a private rocket company, SpaceX, as well as suggesting that the planet could be hit by nuclear weapons to make it liveable.
But all of that progress could be thrown off by the destruction caused by World War Three, Mr Musk warned.
“I don't think we can discount the possibility of a third World War,” Mr Musk told GQ.
“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.”
We shouldn’t just presume that technology will progress until we can leave the Earth, he warned.
“Most of us instinctively assume that technology relentlessly marches forward, but there have been times before now in human history — after the Egyptians built the pyramids, for instance, or after the multiple advances of the Roman Empire — when the civilizations that followed could no longer do what had been done before, and perhaps there's a complacency and arrogance in assuming that this won't happen again," Mr Musk said.
The warning came as Mr Musk also revealed that he had set up a company to research artificial intelligence, in an attempt to stop humanity being destroyed by robots.
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