Re: ...Nasa/Griffin LYING about Public Support for Moon/Mars Missions!
- From: Joe Strout <joe@xxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Tue, 31 Oct 2006 08:52:34 -0700
In article <Xns986CE933B1F1Fjimdavis2earthlinkne@xxxxxxxxxxx>,
Jim Davis <jimdavis2@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Rand Simberg wrote:
I think that either space colonization is inevitable, or the
extinction of humankind is inevitable. That, of course, makes
no prediction about the timeframe for either event.
But I find it highly unlikely that we will continue on this
planet indefinitely without either extinguishing ourselves, or
populating more of the universe. It will almost certainly be
one or the other, eventually.
You're essentially claiming (as most space colonization enthusiasts
do) that space colonization improves the long term survival prospects
of the human race. It *may* work out that way but that's completely
unknowable at this juncture.
Why do you say that? How could space colonization NOT improve the
long-term survival prospects of the human race? A species in a smaller,
narrower niche is always more vulnerable to extinction than one in a
much broader one. Why would it be any different for us?
Or to go at it another way: we can think up lots of disasters which
could wipe out all life on Earth, but couldn't wipe out life spread
throughout the solar system. Whether or not these disasters actually
happen doesn't matter; because they COULD happen, the odds of extinction
are higher for a planetbound species than for a system-wide one. The
only way this could not be true is if you can think of something that
would wipe out a whole solar system, but NOT wipe out a planetbound
race, and that seems very far-fetched at best.
Best,
- Joe
.
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