- We should stay away from other planets until we can figure out how to stop ruining this one"
What do you think? Is there some truth to that? Is it irresponsible to allow our intellectual curiosities and energy to pursue such things when there are so many problems to solve here? Does the path of human space exploration inevitably lead to "
- Factory complexes on other worlds? Extraterrestrial strip mining? The spreading of hypocritical and polarizing religious dogmas to indigenous life forms, assuming that there are any
The same commenter said, "
- We don't deserve to stand on another planet. We don't even deserve this one"
- While I agree that humanity is less than perfect, I cannot say "we" don't deserve. "We" are a dynamic species capable of both great and horrendous things. I know many wonderful people that exist outside of religious dogma and hypocrisy. Perhaps you need to hang out with some new people if your take on humanity is so grim?
I also think that as we explore science and space our findings will either slowly or quickly dissolve the flimsy foundation of dogma. Knowledge is what is galvanized and with it the next phase of human evolution emerges. An evolution of enlightenment.
Or it could be we go to mars and go.. "meh", nothing to see here. Either way, I'm damned excited. But should we continue this thread, we ought to do it elsewhere. 1. It's not terribly relevant to the post and 2. I friggin hate Facebook"
At which point another commenter asked to know where the conversation migrated to? And that's where we find ourselves... on Hubski.
So how about it Hubski? Is it irresponsible?
Also, if we ever were a galactic species, I'd imagine there would be a great deal of strip mining of planets and asteroid belts and things like that. That isn't irresponsible or unethical, it's raw material that should be used by whatever forces choose to use them. It is literally nature.
- It is extremely unlikely that humans will last long enough and co-operate strongly enough for us to ever actually leave and colonize space, but I can't think of anything more important for us to try.
I absolutely agree. I also can't think of anything more important for us to do as a species. Navel-gazing will be the ruin of us. Politicians, conflicts, religions, and countries come and go, but we are living creatures with a history, and a future. There are so many exponential's happening right now regarding population, consumption, loss of biodiversity, development of AI, etc. If we don't create more options when the opportunity presents itself, we might not have another chance.
- Also, if we ever were a galactic species, I'd imagine there would be a great deal of strip mining of planets and asteroid belts and things like that. That isn't irresponsible or unethical, it's raw material that should be used by whatever forces choose to use them. It is literally nature"
I am excited about Curiosity http://hubski.com/pub?id=9556
IMO the argument is a red-herring. Exploration and settlement of other planets doesn't preclude any action to improve conditions here on Earth. If anything, the technologies and knowledge we gain from the effort would only help us to better understand and ameliorate problems here. There seems to be some environmental guilt here, and a worry that we will ruin some other pristine place, -that "we don't deserve it" argument. I'm not sure what can be said about that. In who's eyes don't we deserve 'it'? I don't understand. Exploration and wonder is a good part of who we are. We learn about ourselves when we encounter new knowledge. We get new context and mature. Previous conflicts diminish and lose relevance as we expand our worldview. I also see this exploration as an avenue to a new era of enlightenment. If we chose not to, we stagnate.
- IMO the argument is a red-herring. Exploration and settlement of other planets doesn't preclude any action to improve conditions here on Earth.
I discuss this a lot with friends and most of the time, the central point it's goverment spending. "The government should spend more on improving health and fighting poverty than building spaceships", sometimes the litany goes. My response is the same as yours. Why should our cientific endeavours distract us or discourage us to take our part in the betterment of the world? Neil deGrasse Tyson has a wonderful counter-argument to this: he says that of one dollar the average american pays, one half of a penny (1/200 of a dollar) goes to NASA. And that one dollar gives us the Space Shuttle, that gives us Curiosity, that gives us the Hubble Telescope. I'm interested in what would you say to that argument, mk. I realise you already have answered it, but, if I may, I would like some more thoughts about this if you have any. Why shouldn't we take money away from NASA and other space programs around the world and put them in social reform and distribution of wealth programs?
- Why should our scientific endeavours distract us or discourage us to take our part in the betterment of the world?
Personally, I see most of our scientific endeavors to be conducted for the betterment of humanity. IMHO it's a good point that deGrasse Tyson makes, but it is almost apologetic in that it argues that NASA spends very little, so in that light, what we have gained is worth it. I don't have much time atm, but I think I am going to write a post about my feelings on this. In short, I think that these endeavors are part of why we want to preserve our species. They are us working together to create a better place on Earth, and they propel us into a more mature, more positive, and less aggressive society. Yeah, I want to write a proper post on this.