The ability to go west was well understood and already successful by other Europeans by then, namely the various Norse colonizations.
Columbus lucked out to have the political will to make his colonies work, mainly via the brutal large-scale warfare against the natives Isabella and others were more than willing to fund, largely to acquire natural resources and for further empire building.
SpaceX doesn't even have the ability to go. Comparing Columbus's low hanging fruit to Mars colonization is pretty unconvincing, especially on the economic front where colonization of the Americas was deeply profitable almost instantly, while Mars would be a welfare state.
> The ability to go west was well understood and already successful by other Europeans by then
Indeed, the main reason Columbus was mocked because his plan was rather extreme on its face (and, despite the fact that he never admitted this, was a complete failure for exactly the reason it was mocked, even though it happened to produce benefits completely unrelated to its intended purpose) because not only the shape but the size of the Earth was well known.
> Columbus lucked out to have the political will to make his colonies work
Columbus lucked out in running into a large land mass well short of his desired goal (which he never admitted that he hadn't reached, which is why the lands of the New World are now commonly known by a name derived from that of an Italian map maker and not their "discoverer".)
Columbus's plan was no less absurd than SpaceX's, and is only seen as successful in retrospect for accomplishments unrelated to its intended purpose.
> The ability to go west was well understood and already successful by other Europeans by then, namely the various Norse colonizations.
And our ability to go to Mars isn't imaginary either (even if we haven't sent people).
Also, I've never seen literature claiming the Norse expeditions were very well known. (Not saying that doesn't exists, just that I haven't seen them.)
> SpaceX doesn't even have the ability to go. Comparing Columbus's low hanging fruit to Mars colonization is pretty unconvincing, especially on the economic front where colonization of the Americas was deeply profitable almost instantly, while Mars would be a welfare state.
It wasn't know that America would be profitable. Granted it was thought spice trade would be.
The point of the quote is that Europeans chose to take on an expensive exploratory endeavour (with the hope of a profit) even though they had issues at home.
> It wasn't know that America would be profitable.
This is misleading, because the early explorers thought they were sailing to India, not to a new world that was unknown at the time. India was certainly regarded as profitable, and was the impetus for the early voyages. BTW this is why native Americans are called "indians".
Columbus lucked out to have the political will to make his colonies work, mainly via the brutal large-scale warfare against the natives Isabella and others were more than willing to fund, largely to acquire natural resources and for further empire building.
SpaceX doesn't even have the ability to go. Comparing Columbus's low hanging fruit to Mars colonization is pretty unconvincing, especially on the economic front where colonization of the Americas was deeply profitable almost instantly, while Mars would be a welfare state.