Megastructures - what's keeping us from making them
Materials
Not all, but most megastructures require vast amounts of resources to build. These building materials must come from somewhere. Although ideas may spring up for efficient uses of resources - the fact remains that the level of materials needed to make BWC structures are just out of reach lest we destroy many celestial bodies in the process. Since the world's reeling from climate change and overuse of resources (like plastics and trash), there's a shunning of resource use until we change ourselves (mindsets, economy, culture, etc. - see below).
Human Capacity
Time
The level of human might that humans are starting out from is smaller than many megastructures at this point in time: financially, locationally, directionally, etc. may be too far away from where we need to be to build certain megastructures. Right now, we can build mega cities, space stations, metaverses, and vertical farms. However, there's still a heavy reliance on outdated practices, like traditional farming, no matter how much people try to change it (see culture below and overpop -> megapop).
Culture
In the US especially, science is not being prioritized. One reason is that the Cold War ended in December 1991, so people want to move on from that back to their real life. Even though the Space Age continues to this day, it's an outcropping of the Cold War, as the culture of focusing on math and science ceased. Because megastructures are a feat of STEAM - science, technology, engineering, art/design, and math - the lack of focus on STEAM (except where people try to push for a resurgence, mainly out of 90s nostalgia and a fight for public science advocacy and development inspired by the pushes made during the Cold-War era Space Age) keeps megastructures from being thought of, along with having the skills necessary to make them.
Intellect - Impossibility mindset - never been done before, don't know how
If megastructures haven't been created, people may think it might not be possible to make in the first place. They also won't know how to if there's no framework in doing so. Although many sci-fi novels form some blueprint, the implementation in reality is severely lacking (as mentioned by Isaac Arthur in many of his videos). Without knowing what to do next, most people may give up too soon and easily, thinking it's not worth delving into if in the end is impossible to create - it would be a waste of time. Because of the complexities and scale of megastructures, this risk/reward ratio is higher than most other projects around - a major hindrance/deterrent.
Need
Priorities - world issues
The priority to make megastructures in relation to other problems is low, because we have larger issues to face at the moment - mainly taking care of ourselves with an aging population, sandwich generation, coronavirus (and its ripple effects), mental health crisis, etc. People are so limited to taking care of themselves, not to mention fixing the major world issues that impact us on a daily basis, like climate change, that very rarely are people looking past that to what we can create beyond our myopic viewpoint.
Loneliness
What is the point of building an ocean city or space infrastructure - when it's far away from home, cities, family/friends, etc.?
Not all, but most megastructures require vast amounts of resources to build. These building materials must come from somewhere. Although ideas may spring up for efficient uses of resources - the fact remains that the level of materials needed to make BWC structures are just out of reach lest we destroy many celestial bodies in the process. Since the world's reeling from climate change and overuse of resources (like plastics and trash), there's a shunning of resource use until we change ourselves (mindsets, economy, culture, etc. - see below).
Human Capacity
Time
The level of human might that humans are starting out from is smaller than many megastructures at this point in time: financially, locationally, directionally, etc. may be too far away from where we need to be to build certain megastructures. Right now, we can build mega cities, space stations, metaverses, and vertical farms. However, there's still a heavy reliance on outdated practices, like traditional farming, no matter how much people try to change it (see culture below and overpop -> megapop).
Culture
In the US especially, science is not being prioritized. One reason is that the Cold War ended in December 1991, so people want to move on from that back to their real life. Even though the Space Age continues to this day, it's an outcropping of the Cold War, as the culture of focusing on math and science ceased. Because megastructures are a feat of STEAM - science, technology, engineering, art/design, and math - the lack of focus on STEAM (except where people try to push for a resurgence, mainly out of 90s nostalgia and a fight for public science advocacy and development inspired by the pushes made during the Cold-War era Space Age) keeps megastructures from being thought of, along with having the skills necessary to make them.
Intellect - Impossibility mindset - never been done before, don't know how
If megastructures haven't been created, people may think it might not be possible to make in the first place. They also won't know how to if there's no framework in doing so. Although many sci-fi novels form some blueprint, the implementation in reality is severely lacking (as mentioned by Isaac Arthur in many of his videos). Without knowing what to do next, most people may give up too soon and easily, thinking it's not worth delving into if in the end is impossible to create - it would be a waste of time. Because of the complexities and scale of megastructures, this risk/reward ratio is higher than most other projects around - a major hindrance/deterrent.
Need
Priorities - world issues
The priority to make megastructures in relation to other problems is low, because we have larger issues to face at the moment - mainly taking care of ourselves with an aging population, sandwich generation, coronavirus (and its ripple effects), mental health crisis, etc. People are so limited to taking care of themselves, not to mention fixing the major world issues that impact us on a daily basis, like climate change, that very rarely are people looking past that to what we can create beyond our myopic viewpoint.
Loneliness
What is the point of building an ocean city or space infrastructure - when it's far away from home, cities, family/friends, etc.?