Generation Ships

[ericthered]

I'm going to say that a solo ship in communication with earth won't be focusing on advancements unless They are restricted in the information they receive by the information give. Which is a horribly one-sided arrangement, unless the ship has a nice advantage over earth (maybe scientists predominated, or the specialize in things that can't be done in the solar system OR with probes).

A true solo ship that is leaving earth behind will probably focus on techincal matters. Improving computers might happen, but I doubt it. our society seems to be throwing its full weight at the problem right now, and I don't think a generation ship has the capacity to make progress on the matter. Biology is a good thing to look at because the ship will have incrediable recycling capabilities in the first place (if not, thats the first thing you study). They will likely have very "bland" raw materials, so much of the study could be engineering E. Coli to do EVERYTHING.

If you have several ships on different routes but in communication, and either no link to earth or enough people that the ships can compete, each ship will specialize. The specialization could be extreme, and it could be laughable.
(we do soybeans. they do silicon chips. and the Hope of Man studies every possible use for poo).

and now I have an image of the society where FTL comes along, and you have a very wealthy planet whose inhabitants have extremely derogatory racial slurs.