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Space exploration? Is it worth it?
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[deleted user]
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Aug 12, 2011 02:30AM
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It is a waste of resources and time.
I did a proper debate on this once...
I did a proper debate on this once...
Yes, it's worth it....but I reckon they should get Earth sorted out before we start screwing up other planets......
I don't think we should colonise other planets - we've screwed up our own planet as it is, no need to do so to other planets too. But I support the constant search for other astral bodies. I highly doubt that we are alone in the universe, and while I also highly doubt that we will ever make contact with another intelligent species, it would knock us off our high horse to realise that, yeah, there are other life forms out there. We are not unique.
Why we go up into space when we still don't know what is in half our oceans.
It isn't a perfect sphere, but it isn't a full on ovoid shape either...
Earth is very close to being an oblate spheroid. :) So close that they usually refer to it as being that shape.
We need to fix our own planet before we do anything else.
We're not going to fix our own planet unless we reduce our current reproduction rate by a substantial amount. We're going to end up with more people than the planet can sustain. We already have food shortages and this is just going to worsen as land that was previously farm land is turned into industry or housing (especially in China and India). I read a report on this not long ago. The food shortage actually started about 20 years ago and it's just getting worse each year. They predict wars over food in the not too distant future.
The population of the world is 7 billion.
WE have enough food for 12 billion.
There is enough food.
The distribution just sucks.
WE have enough food for 12 billion.
There is enough food.
The distribution just sucks.
We don't have sustainable food sources for 12 billion. We might have enough to feed them right now, but not over a long period. Especially as more and more farm land is built on with each passing year. Plus each nation knows what's coming. Why do you think the French farmers are so well protected?
The fact is that society now is in more need of that money. The fact is that we should be concentrating on the people who live on planet Earth NOW. We should be giving in that money that we use to fund some superficial project of an unpredictable future to the people who need it now. The health. The education. THE POOR PEOPLE. According to UNICEF, 22,000 children die each day due to poverty. And they “die quietly in some of the poorest villages on earth, far removed from the scrutiny and the conscience of the world. Imagine the amounts of poor people you could feed with that money.
Not just poor people who "die quietly in some of the poorest villages on earth, far removed from the scrutiny and the conscience of the world." but also homeless people on city/town streets as well.
Doing that would result in wars even sooner as some nations deplete their food stores before others, demand help from those that have food left over and are met with refusal. If we are to feed the whole of the world's population then we need a sustainable food source for it.
Well, maybe we do not know a sustainable resource because the earth hasn't even been fully explored yet!
Space exploration has always been a gimmick. The USA was doing it only to look better than the USSR and vice versa; it has never really been about the science. There are far more valuable scientific endeavours to fund, such as the exploration of our own planet. The seabed, especially around volcanic regions, is relatively unexplored, as is Antarctica. The scientific knowledge obtainable from our own planet, particularly organisms that inhabit locations with extreme conditions, offers far more value than that of space.
Space exploration has always been a gimmick. The USA was doing it only to look better than the USSR and vice versa; it has never really been about the science. There are far more valuable scientific endeavours to fund, such as the exploration of our own planet. The seabed, especially around volcanic regions, is relatively unexplored, as is Antarctica. The scientific knowledge obtainable from our own planet, particularly organisms that inhabit locations with extreme conditions, offers far more value than that of space.
@G: Not necessarily actually. My dad had a real tough childhood (black kid in the South in the 50s) and he worked so his family could live in a real nice part of LA and he makes sure that we all do charity work and give 5% or over of what we earn to charity. So actually, it's not all that clear-cut.
Well, if that was the case, there would be no philanthropists out there...
@G: My point is, can you please not make generalizations about people.
I'm not sure we'll find a sustainable food source in the deepest oceans (especially as we're fishing the oceans dry as it is) or Antarctica. I support both endeavours. Exploring space allows us to learn more about our universe, understand more about where we came from and how we came to be on this little planet in the goldilocks zone of some solar system in some branch of some galaxy among the thousands, if not millions of others out there. It's something that we'll never have all the answers to - we'll never know if the big bang really happened, if there are multiple universes out there beyond each black hole, or what have you. But it's something worth exploring.
I support exploring our own planet for a better understanding of how micronisms live. For example, did you know that there are some forms of bacteria out there that do not need water to survive? They live in arsenic, which is our poison.
Garrett wrote: "@Gits true people with money don't give a damn about people without it
they just care bout making themshelves richer"
Actually, the rich are often the ones who give the most to charity. It's just that there are an awful lot more poor people out there than there are rich people giving to the various charities that try to help them.
@G: Yes he would. And he'd help you find a job.
I think space exploration is important. It helps us discover new things about other planets which in turn can help scientists discover new things about Earth.Also by stopping space exploration thousands of people are losing their jobs, which isn't helping the economy.
It's helping us to broaden our horizons about life, yeah. Only a few years ago scientists were still certain that you needed water for life (very narrow-minded imo) but now they know this isn't the case, and it can even be observed on our planet.Also, don't you just love the idea that we might just be the happy chance consequence of a comet passing over the Earth billions of years ago?
