On Reddit I remember getting called a “space Karen” for pointing this out in a discussion about Starlink. Elon Musk fanboys are some of the worst. Second only to Q fanboys.

Well the issue is that not everything is black and white.

On one hand, these satellites can potentially absolutely wreak havok on astronomy, and our own view of the night sky. Nobody wants that.

On the other hand, in a few years, these satellites are able to provide cheap internet all over the planet, which would allow poor remote communities in South America, Africa, and Asia access to the internet, which is practically impossible through any other means. IMO, its worth the tradeoff. I think helping people is more important than astronomy, but I recognize that that’s just my opinion

Okay but you’re falling into Elon’s trap. You can’t weigh future potential against current harm naively. Particularly when it comes from somebody with a long history of over promising and under delivering. Since we pay the full price up front (loss of science, etc) but will never reap the full benefits promised.

I agree that we can’t trust Elon… but hasn’t Starlink already helped Ukrainians? I remember he messed it up for a bit, but if we took Elon out of the picture but kept Starlink, the debate gets more interesting.

If you are like the guy you are responding to and prioritize people over astrology(which I’m not sure I do tbh), I don’t think they are being naive weighing future potential vs current harm. Easy internet access anywhere in the world vs deep space study from Earth isn’t black and white.

Personally, I’d choose space, but I can imagine a lot of people would choose the more humanitarian approach.

To my knowledge absolutely nothing critical to Ukranian defense uses Starlink.

And again, what is niave is to not heavily discount any claims Elon makes. Starlink provides neglible value currently, what potential might exist is imaginary.

The best thing for the world is to realize Elon was a sunk cost and move on