There's everything from misanthropy bordering on extinction fetishism to wild optimism and gung ho enthusiasm. Maybe that's part of the reason I'm so interested in space exploration - it's a subject that conventional wisdom says is dull and unappealing to the general public, yet it never fails to arouse powerful and opposing passions.
Those passions go far beyond a simple debate about the appropriateness of spending vast amounts of public funds on admittedly risky ventures. It's an argument that for better or worse, exposes our greatest aspirations, deepest fears, and our true feelings about our natures. It's an argument that gets right down to fundamental questions: do we have a right to exist or not? Does that right give us a mandate to expand our presence in the universe, and to exploit the resources of the solar system? Is what we are even worth preserving?
Saturday, December 09, 2006
THEY GET LETTERS
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3 comments:
Do we (as a species) have a right to exist? What an odd question... my answer would have to be "mu." It depends on what you think a "right" is. I think it's a human concept and therefore is what we say it is.
Eris one told me "life should have a purpose, however meaningless."
Hi Mac - I think if we start to colonise other planets, we should have some pretty clear goals and objectives in mind. For example, if we continue to bicker and war amongst ourselves, we stand just as great a chance of destroying ourselves 'out there' as we do down here on Earth. I'm not sure what ideals should be considered, but I think we should aim a little higher than merely trying to preserve ourselves by propagating our DNA at discrete locations around the cosmos.
WMB--
Good call on the "base"/"colony" business. Funny how basic writing skills dissolve when the mainstream is forced to deal with something that's not familiar and/or pedestrian.
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