system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
CMV: Developing space infrastructure should be a higher priority than trying to colonize Mars

There seems to be a lot of romance around the idea of colonizing Mars and I hope that someday there is a Martian colony. But first we need better space infrastructure. That means more efficient ways to launch and reuse rockets like SpaceX is developing.  More needs to be done to develop Earth orbit capabilities, and perhaps a Moon base to develop the the first off world manufacturing and intermediate base for exploring further out. We also need to develop the infrastructure that will enable us to start doing asteroid mining. That’s primarily so that we don’t need to launch as much material into orbit to build things in space. What do you think?
gpt
I work in the software development industry, and there is a recurring debate on this very issue.

On the one hand, new projects are sexy. They attract investors and customers. They have goals that are easy to define and market.

On the other hand, infrastructure projects can help the "sexy" projects move faster in the future. They provide a network of support that, in theory, should make all future goals cheaper and easier to achieve.

There is a hidden downside of infrastructure projects, however. First, humans aren't good at predicting the future. We often build infrastructure to address problems that never materialize. Second, we often build infrastructure and then discover that other technology has advanced in ways that render our infrastructure irrelevant.

In software development, as in space technology and most other pursuits, it is often most efficient to develop infrastructure *alongside* the sexy projects on an as-needed basis to ensure that no waste is produced.