[whataretheysaying] Mary Madigan: Far out

[Email subscription to blog articles]

Posted by Mary Madigan:
Far out
http://whataretheysaying.powerblogs.com/posts/1150304568.shtml


   Ron Coleman at Dean's World disagees with [1]Glenn Reynolds and Steven
   Hawking when Hawking says:

     The survival of the human race depends on its ability to find new
     homes elsewhere in the universe because there's an increasing risk
     that a disaster will destroy the Earth, world-renowned scientist
     Stephen Hawking said Tuesday.

     The British astrophysicist told a news conference in Hong Kong that
     humans could have a permanent base on the moon in 20 years and a
     colony on Mars in the next 40 years. . . .

     "It is important for the human race to spread out into space for
     the survival of the species," Hawking said. "Life on Earth is at
     the ever-increasing risk of being wiped out by a disaster, such as
     sudden global warming, nuclear war, a genetically engineered virus
     or other dangers we have not yet thought of."

   Ron [2]says:

     Something as far out as space colonization has to be justified from
     the ground up, not by an off-the-cuff statement by the world's
     smartest human â even if it's agreed with by the world's Insta-ist
     blogger! There's no shortage of people making the case â see here,
     here, and here. But "imminent extinction" strikes me as about as
     least a rational, and as least a convincing, way to move that
     agenda as any I can imagine.

   The world's smartest human has probably realized that the only truly
   effective way to get people to overcome their fear of risk is to
   threaten them with a bigger fear. It's an unpleasant tactic, but it
   works.

   I'm not sure that the extinction fears are valid (and I'm not sure
   that Hawking fully believes it) but this is only one of many reasons
   to spread our wings and use the technology we've been developing for
   years. I've always thought that space colonization was the natural
   next step for science. Like improved medical care, improved
   transportation - it's just the direction we're moving in. Can you
   imaging a future without space colonization? That's far out -
   depressingly so.

   Commenter John Irving [3]quotes this from the ever-wise Fark:

     There is a 100% chance that another large comet or asteroid will
     hit the Earth. That's not an alarmist statement. It's just a fact.
     Going into space is never going to be easier than it is right now.
     In 100 years we may have better technology, but we wont have cheap
     energy. If we are too scared to do it now, then we'll never do it -
     and that will basically mean that nature has selected us for
     exinction. You know the Pandas that wont screw to save their
     species? Well, we'll be the technological race that wouldn't orbit
     to save our species.

     This is probably a common occurance in the universe. A race obtains
     technology and decides that the risks of space travel are too high
     and the rewards are too low. Eventually, they die out. Maybe the
     remains are eventually found by an actual space-faring race.

     "gee, I wonder what happened to them? Wow, they had a beautiful
     planet. They didn't polute. They didn't harm the lovely trees and
     squirels. They kept the water clean. Oh, but then a couple of large
     caldera volcanoes went off and killed all life on their planet
     anyway. rofl. noobs. I bet that as the last one choked to death he
     looked up (couldn't see the stars at that point though) and
     thought, 'fark, we should have risked it, now we're dead."

   Or, as [4]Bruce Springsteen says, "Its a long night and tell me what
   else were you gonna do".

References

   1. http://instapundit.com/archives/030889.php
   2. http://www.deanesmay.com/posts/1150240650.shtml
   3. http://www.deanesmay.com/posts/1150240650.shtml#71562
   4. http://www.lyricsfreak.com/b/bruce+springsteen/darlington+county_20025011.html