Archived-Discussions

Conference Schedule, Ground Rules, The Market For Ideas, and Reality

TSI must regretfully announce that Professor Romer has decided to withdraw from his speaking engagement at our upcoming conference. His reasons were related to the content of another speaker’s blog (Mencius Moldbug). We do not yet clearly understand his objections, and we do not want to misrepresent Professor Romer, so we can’t be any more specific at this time.

Regardless of Romer’s reasons, his withdrawal triggered an active internal debate around exactly what ideas and people TSI is or isn’t willing to affiliate with.

Poseidon Resorts Flash Ad

Poseidon Undersea Resorts’ website now has a nice flash ad intro and a lot of content. This US Submarines-led project is supposedly under construction in Fiji, although of course one never knows with this sort of project – such things are announced and take reservations far more often than they actually open. With a planned price of $30K/couple/week it is evidence for our belief that underwater is too expensive to be a good route to seasteading.

Speaking opportunities in October

It looks like I will be giving a talk at Hillsdale College (Michigan) the evening of Tuesday, October 27th, and a talk at University of Rhode Island the morning of Thursday October 29th. That means Wed 10/28 I could give a talk anywhere in the northeastern US. And Friday 10/30 I might be able to give a talk someplace close to RI, like Boston, NH, or NYC. If your school or organization would like to sponsor such a talk and those places and dates work for you, email .

Ring-Weave: Recycle Tires Into Territory

Gerd Weiland writes:

i had the good fortune to identify (invent) a simple yet unique development in weaving technology–the ring-weave–which in context with the creative recycling of scrap tires, offers not only a quantum leap in waste dissposal efficiency but in my opinion the technological and engineering prerequisit to construct safe indestructable floating foundations for offshore dwellings of any shape dissplacement or size.

More seasteading efforts: Rhode Island

Dan Gladstone, 19, and Zachary Weindel, 26, have built a raft, and a dream — they hope to have a self-sufficient boat, a community and a way of life.

It’s called seasteading. Think homesteading. Now imagine it on the ocean.

“It’s freedom,” Gladstone says.

It’s bold, idealistic and, perhaps, quixotic. It’s living off the land while living on the sea. It is, Gladstone and Weindel say, a life without leases and rents, mortgages and taxes, electric bills and grocery-store visits.

“We like to think of it as an open biodome system,” Weindel says.