Is it really necessary to send humans to those places just to get the knock-on benefits? Couldn’t we do those things directly, without going there?
It seems to me that, today, those who have the money to spend on these endeavors would only do so if there were perceived short-term benefits to themselves. That means they plan to exploit the resources, or increase their own power somehow.
I know the good engineers that make this happen are doing it for the challenge and in the pursuit of knowledge, and I know that’s why we poors support it, but that doesn’t “pay the bills.” What is the motivation behind the money? Why are they really doing this?
Say we put in all that effort, expend all those resources - what do we get for it?
Another place to put strip malls and parking lots. With the added benefits of brain swelling, heart atrophy due to the reduce gravity, and shortened lifespans from the increased radiation.
Or we could just, idk, make Earth a better place to live. If we have all these resources, surely it would be easier to make Earth more habitable given the much better starting conditions than to go to dead dust ball months to years away and try to live in an ant farm.
Just a thought
The problem is that you will never reach a point where you feel it’s worth expanding off of Earth. There will never be a point where things are perfect and all our problems here are solved. In fact, if we ever do reach that point, we probably shouldn’t expand out that point, as that means we’ve probably become a species of entirely self-obsessed narcissists that believes we are perfect.
Self-criticism is healthy. But you shouldn’t allow it to hold back your own life or your whole species.
I think you just have far to little faith in your fellow human beings. Thankfully history isn’t moved forward by naysayers. For every inventor that transformed the world, there were a hundred jealous naysayers that said it shouldn’t or couldn’t be done.
Just a thought.
It is only a “problem” if you consider space exploration a moral imperative.
I don’t. There isn’t anything up there that we can’t get easier down here. The resource expenditure is a poor investment. Not to mention how much this would further inequality.
If there will always be problems on Earth, then it sounds like we’ll never be bored staying here.
Frankly then, this isn’t a topic for you. Space exploration is not something that will be done by the entire human race. It’s something that will be done by those that believe in it. You and those like you can stay home and play video games while other people advance the human race. If you don’t get it, that’s a you problem.
The OP:
… But sure, this is exclusively a thread to circle-jerk about how cool you are for wanting to burn mountains of resources to feel good about something.
Advancement is not unidimensional, and it is not synonymous with space exploration. If you don’t get it, that’s a you problem.
The habitable lifespan of this planet is already 80% consumed. Life on this planet has another billion years left, even though it’s been here for four billion. In a billion years, the Sun’s slow heating will cause the Earth’s oceans to boil and the surface to become barren. If we do nothing, all life on Earth will be extinguished. If we do act, however. If we DO learn how to spread life far and wide, then there’s no reason that Earth life cannot continue to exist for hundreds of trillions of years into the future.
This isn’t about just “feeling good.” This is about taking our responsibility as stewards of life seriously. Maybe you don’t feel that responsibility, but that’s a skill issue.
Stewards of life? That is delusional.
How many species have we extincted? How many are bred in excess to live short and miserable lives purely to be slaughtered for food?
We aren’t stewards or guardians of anything, we’re just animals that seek pleasure and procreation and evolved an asymmetric advantage over the competition.
But there is no convincing a zealot, and this is your religion. A creed that dictates we sacrifice millions of lives to enrich dozens, demanding to be praised all the while.
Grow up
You chose to focus on humanity’s failings. I choose to focus on our successes and aspirations. I choose the less misanthropic option.
You choose to ignore the externalities and opportunity costs of such resource expenditure. You choose to ignore and actively worsen the suffering of your fellow man in order to indulge yourself in unscientific fantasies of space colonization.
I choose to focus on helping those who need it.
Somehow, your arguments from the supposed moral high ground fall flat.