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Why Space Travel Is Good For The Planet
San Francisco, 8:51 PM
Tue Dec 15
26 posts in the last 24 hours
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07/20/09
So, SpaceWard Ho!
07/20/09
Human space travel is possibly the most important thing we can be doing right now. There is no single human activity that so crystallizes our position as a species:
-We live on a planet that suffers from periodic extinction events, one of which we may be in and accelerating due to our actions and inactions.
-We are rent by mysticism and sectarian nonsense, squabbling over tribal god images as we immolate and decapitate one another.
-In this nation (the US), we suffer from a malaise in the sciences and a general distrust of reason (in philosophy circles, we call this "misology").
Space travel is the inspiration, the spur, that can wake us out this slumber as a species, reminding us of our place, but also of our potential. When people see that we can achieve greatness, their apathy is fatally challenged.
It takes vision and fortitude to see this sort of task through. It would be a great historical irony if only a period of especially intense stupidity (the cold war) could beget a project of such intelligence, wisdom, and importance.
07/20/09
I don't see how an environemntalist can be opposed to space travel. Besides giving us a backup plan in case we mess up this world too badly, it potentially serves as a release valve to ship off excess humans and reduce the world population. Whether it could do so in any significant fashion is a good question. Most importantly, the advances that come from such science apply to far more than just launching a few people to the moon.
The only ways an environemntalist couldn't be in favor of space travel is if he is a Luddite, mindlessly pining for "a simpler time" when he could die froma an infected scratch or if he is so narrowminded that all he can see is a space program draining off funds from his own pet cause.
07/20/09
Well said!
07/20/09
While I am not a space-hating Luddite, (I love space) this kind of statement riles me. I don't understand why we would make such a plan to escape this planet if we destroy it. If we're a race of spacefaring beings, and we have the will and technology to go to space, can't we also have the will and technology to clean up and maintain our own planet before we expel ourselves outside of the atmosphere in search of a new home?
Seems like the end result of this "earth flight" kind of thinking is defeatist, and is a concession that we can't change anything or fix it, we can only go "out there" to spread our broken ideas and bad habits to previously untouched planets.
I'm all for space travel, and living in space, and even on other planets, but I cannot in good conscience say that I agree with the idea that we should do those things to flee an impending disaster brought about by ourselves. What kind of new worlds would suffer and how much because we're at heart children who, unsatisfied with destroying our own rooms, go forth to wreck the bedrooms of our siblings?
07/20/09
Too much of the world remains to poor or to oppressed to care about anything beyond their next meal.
Look at china. They pollute excessively to catch up witht he rest of the world. When the US says they should care more about the environment, they think we are just trying to raise their costs to maintain our lead. They would rather poision the biosphere for an economic advantage and too much of the world agrees.
07/20/09
07/20/09
07/20/09
07/20/09
I was as excited by Gagarin as I was with Sheppard.
Unfortunately, the naysayers are all, like, it costs sooo much more to send a man than a robot, meanwhile they are securing their cordless drill with velcro.
07/20/09
07/20/09
I'm not saying we should let the planet die because we're going into space, but space is a lot cheaper than dealing with the mess created by market manipulation done by sociopaths. We could have gone to Mars with the Wall St/AIG bailout money.