It's interesting that we characterize this as a single "mistake". Can a culture be said to make a mistake?
These are all 20th-C centric: What about going to the moon and then retreating to LEO instead of building a lasting infrastructure? (This may not be a lasting mistake; there are reasonable indications that China, India, and independent Western entrepreneurs will fill the gap.)
What about the continued squandering of Earth's fossil fuel reserves? I forget who said that these represent a one-shot booster to kick us out of subsistence farming, and we'd better make use of the momentum while we can. (For that matter, what about the decision to construct the Eisenhower interstate system instead of following the rest of the world in enhancing rail lines?)
What about the British government hounding Turing to his death?
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These are all 20th-C centric:
What about going to the moon and then retreating to LEO instead of building a lasting infrastructure? (This may not be a lasting mistake; there are reasonable indications that China, India, and independent Western entrepreneurs will fill the gap.)
What about the continued squandering of Earth's fossil fuel reserves? I forget who said that these represent a one-shot booster to kick us out of subsistence farming, and we'd better make use of the momentum while we can. (For that matter, what about the decision to construct the Eisenhower interstate system instead of following the rest of the world in enhancing rail lines?)
What about the British government hounding Turing to his death?