Space, Our Salvation?

Richard Branson completed his first flight into space today. Of course this flight is controversial and accompanied by much negativity concerning a billionaire spending his money on something like that. There is a lot of social benefit that could come from spending money on other things than space exploration. Of course this flight takes place while most of the western portion of the North American continent is enduring an unprecedented heat wave and wildfires.

Mankind is truly a unique species. Only we knowingly and willingly destroy the very planet that gives us life when it means more money in our pockets. We are quick to point fingers at people like Richard Branson as if a billionaire investing money in social programs is going to solve our greed focused societal problems that get ignored by the politicians we perpetually put in charge of our welfare.

Bill Nye the Science Guy changed my mind about space exploration. I used to disagree with the resources that were being expended to explore outer space while things were falling apart on our planet. Bill Nye’s opinion on the situation makes a lot of sense to me. He sees the biggest problem we face on earth is the abstract perspective that we are alone in the universe. Religious dogma and blind faith encourage many people to ignore their responsibilities as citizens of this planet and justify their conspicuous consumption of finite resources. Bill Nye believes that the massive paradigm shift that is going to be required to get people to prioritize the health of our environment over the economy will only be initiated by changing everyone’s world view. Finding intelligent life outside of planet earth could be the catalyst we need if we are going to save ourselves from the self-destructive path we are on.

“When we explore the cosmos, we come to believe and prove that we can solve problems that have never been solved. It brings out the best in us. Space exploration imbues everyone with an optimistic view of the future.” - Bill Nye (b. 1955)