Humanity's Space Exploration is Vital to Prevent Our Extinction

This is a post I had written elsewhere some time ago, but I wanted to share again since this is quite important to ponder upon and the old post no longer exists. 

Recent news reports have informed us that the future of NASA is in jeopardy and also that the lead of The United States in the Space Race is now in question. President Obama has scrapped the plans to revisit the moon by 2020 and numerous other space exploration programs. The future of NASA is in peril and therefore the economic stability surrounding Cape Canaveral is placed at an even higher risk than it was before this announcement, and that region's economic stability was already in trouble. A significant amount of jobs will be lost. Furthermore, the economy of the area that relied on that economic stimulation is now facing times even more uncertain and precarious. These announcements will now present Cape Canaveral and the surrounding areas, such as Cocoa Beach, the opportunity to create a microcosmic representation of how the failing economy creates a snowballing effect leading to further economic recession-like symptoms, costing even more jobs, failed businesses, and then more people forced to rely on programs in place designed to assist those facing economic desperation, bankruptcy, foreclosure, and financial deficiency. So, rather than the government saving necessary resources and placing them where they can be better used, a significant percentage will be forced into programs providing funds to those who are no longer afforded the opportunity to earn it on the job. 

These are the obvious ramifications of the decision to hobble NASA. So instead of spending a lot of depressing time discussing points and information already widely written about and read, this article will approach hypotheses and considerations less obvious. Not only will these theories be further from the beaten trail of common debate and discussion, but may provide greater weight to the reasons we pursued space exploration in the first place. Beyond that, the goal is to provide information and theories that just might prove more intriguing than depressing. 

Humanity has been looking to the stars since the dawn of civilization. The desire for space exploration is about far more than political popularity contests or national competition; space exploration and the need for reaching beyond our world is almost literally in our genes. In fact, it may literally be within our human nature to pursue this. So, if the need and continual desire to pursue space exploration is indeed within our nature, then we can assume that it is a natural fact and a natural aspect of us. Many philosophical tenets proclaim that everything that exists in the natural world is indeed natural. This is not a sentence that should be taken lightly; while we may all generally agree that birds migrating south or salmon fighting their upstream to spawn are natural acts, fewer agree that the acts of humanity, all the acts of humanity, are natural, too.

This is a chunky, bitter pill because it is seems foggy to assume that humanity's actions are all natural, particularly when humanity does so much that appears to go against the natural grain. We pollute, destroy, waste, fight, change and mutate what was 'purely natural' and create urban settings replete with artificial things. We say our foods may not be natural, our water bottles are destroying vast stretches of ecosystems, and our actions just might be killing the very planet we live on. But there are sound theories supporting the way that humanity is in fact entirely natural and the way nature intended. 

All that exists within nature is natural. This theory can be difficult to support at face value, but there is actually a lot of evidence to support the theory that nothing is unnatural if it really exists, and nothing is actually artificial when seen from a broader perspective. 

We mostly agree with the scientific theories that this planet is approximately 4.5 billion years old, that there have been numerous 'eras' where various forms of life have existed on this planet over many, many millions of years, that a series of catastrophic disasters, not the least of which was the tremendous asteroid that hit somewhere around the Yucatan Peninsula, came very close to annihilating all life on this planet. Further, many agree that life evolves to adapt to the changing dynamics of this world in order to facilitate a greater chance of survival. 

These theories do not exclude humanity; they may have verily found long term solutions within humanity. Humanity is the first and only living species on this planet that demonstrates a profound capability in looking at and gaining understanding of the natural environment around it. Humanity has learned over time an enormous amount of scientific data and from that data created intricate hypotheses supporting yet more study and investigation of the natural world, both far away and also microscopic. Other species adapt to their environments; humanity adapts the environment to itself. 

These theories could go on for volumes, but for our purposes here, we have reasons to assume that Nature recognized that life on this planet is always in potential danger when secured to only the one location. Therefore, evolution may have succeeded in securing a greater chance of survival for the life that has come to be and survived for this long on this planet. Nature has placed a lot of time and resource into creating life on this planet, so why take the chance that it could be eliminated in a single blow? 

So, how does Nature create a natural dynamic that may allow for life on this planet to survive beyond the mortality of the planet itself? By developing an inquisitive mind within at least one existing species and encouraging that mind to explore and seek greater opportunities. We know that birds migrate for their reasons and that some animals migrate for reasons due to reproducing or seeking more abundant resources. Some animals must migrate or else they will inundate their immediate environment and place their kind and others in jeopardy. It could be possible that humanity has evolved in such a way that allows for natural resources to be manipulated in ways that create technology. After all, the only way for humanity to achieve Space Migration would be to create technologies that allow it. The evidence to support humanity's technological achievements aren't difficult to find; what tends to be more elusive is the 'nature' of humanity's abilities and achievements and whether these are as natural as the seasons or somehow beyond the forces that created all that exists within an entire universe. 

Space exploration is not just a scientific pursuit, but potentially a natural means to assure the survival of life from this planet beyond the mortality of the planet. Nature has a lot riding on the potential of life, so perhaps Nature evolved humanity to become technologically capable of achieving space migration. This means that life on this planet does not have to be secured to but one ecosystem (the planet) but could help propagate life from this planet and help it migrate to livable environments beyond this planet. Some could postulate that our moon is basically devoid of life because there would be no compromise of what's there to take life from earth and transport it to the moon. That isn't particularly important (yet technologically incredible), but recognizing that this planet's lifespan is limited certainly is. 

Science theorizes that the planet has been here for about 4.5 billion years, but may not have that much of a lifespan left. There are theories that Nature may eventually render this planet uninhabitable and incapable of supporting life. Hey, it was incapable of supporting life for a long, long time before it was hospitable for life. Science seriously studies Mars because there are theories that life may have existed there once but natural dynamics eliminated the possibilities for the planet to continue with supporting life. If that is the case, Nature may have again recognized that life being stuck on one planet without the possibility for escape dooms that life eventually. With this theory, it only makes sense that evolution would evolve a means of creating technology in order to see this through. This would mean that technology is a natural aspect of life on Earth and that humanity's pursuits of technology are as natural as the chirps of the crickets. 

Humanity's recognition of this planet's mortality is just as important as being able to leave it. We tend to focus on cataclysmic and apocalyptic possibilities. The latest version of this Y2K bug is the possible end of the world sometime in December of 2012. Sure, it may be that the planet will suffer incredible trauma for whatever reason that could threaten mass extinction on this world. Whether it happens or not, it will be far from the first time humanity has assumed that the end is near. This fear of being trapped on a proverbial ticking time bomb may be part of the impetus to drive humanity forward in the pursuit of space exploration and eventually space and potentially interplanetary travel. Some may see this as science fiction gone awry, but science fiction was launched in many ways by humanity's continual pursuit of pioneering new frontiers. Humanity's continual pursuit for new frontiers has often been forced by the need to grow, expand, and facilitate a greater possibility for survival. 

Another thing to theorize is that it wouldn't just be humanity that would migrate from the planet. Humanity would require resources from the planet in order to survive where there are no resources we've evolved to accept. This means that an enormous amount of nonhuman life would have to go, too. Furthermore, since humanity has developed a sense of caring and compassion for other species (no other species has done this to the extent humanity has), then that compassion may be a naturally occurring means of nature ensuring the possibility that a maximum amount of life may survive beyond the planet's lifespan. 

Some may argue that humanity's violent tendencies, predatory and destructive behaviors, and easy denial of the value of other life distracts from the Space Migration theory. No it does not and this is why: It would theoretically be necessary for a chosen species from this planet be of an aggressive and predatory nature. No prey animal has demonstrated an intrinsic need to do more than seek greener pastures, a broader availability for food, and the need for secure cover and concealment. Only predators have shown a greater need for tactical intelligence and courage to pursue their survival. Only genuine aggressive ambition would have the momentum needed to pursue adventures beyond what offers sustenance and comfort. Some possible proof to this? Humanity has been pursuing migration and pioneering into unfamiliar and hostile territory for a long time, first developing the means to do so through the technological prowess of the ships sailing the seas. It is important to note that these ships had to carry all the resources required to sustain those aboard the ships, and they had to do so efficiently, allowing for the resources as well as the space for the crew in a limited area that had to exercise space conservation and smart ergonomics as well as logistical thought to cope with unforeseen dangers. This was and always has been a serious and monumental undertaking. 

The fact that humanity consumes so much of what it encounters supports humanity's continual need for more, which could eventually motivate to continue migrating farther, and since we know the planet is a globe, we're getting to the point where we can only go up, or out. But we are not blind consumers that inundate everything and we all know that much about ourselves. Conservation is a real thing, going greener and finding cleaner sources of energy is a real part of our lives, and caring for the flora and fauna of our world means more to humanity now than ever before. These things demonstrate that humanity would not just be a parasitic monster invading other inhabitable places, but a thinking being pursuing more resources that exist to be resources. While some may argue that we have caused so much destruction and even extinction, we must also recognize that evolution is a system of trials and errors and of checks and balances. We are not ready for space migration yet, demonstrating that we're not because we haven't achieved it yet. 

The ability to leave this planet and thrive elsewhere will require a lot of time, greater technology, and humanity's greater development of sentient and civilized thought. 

To accomplish these things, all of our inventions and cultural entities must evolve, particularly our methods of economy. While so much of human technology, innovation and creative thought have done so much for humanity's continual progress and approach to the potential for more space exploration and eventually space travel, there is one human invention that is presently holding us down, holding us back, and holding us closer to our prehistoric demeanors and vestigial methods. That invention is our economy.

Our economy and monetary system went from trading basic goods for goods, such as pelt for meat or grain for wool, for example, and then evolved into a method that allows a standardized value system that allows money to obtain humanity so much. This sense of evolutionary development has allowed us to pursue so much that meat and hide would not. We've achieved the obtaining of tremendous resources and then technology. Money lets one obtain so much and it is a vastly renewable resource. The same dollar can pass through innumerable hands and buy all of those hands a dollar's worth of stuff, allowing for an economy that benefits a vast amount with very little. 

But now that we've become so reliant on old and outdated ways with the way the economy functions, it is now falling behind and preventing humanity from evolving forward. The fact that the richest nation on the planet is more than 12 trillion dollars in debt lends to the proof that money needs to get with the times. The fact that we limit education, innovation, exploration, science, commerce, and just about every single aspect of human growth and development only because of outdated rules of a system we created to do the very opposite of just that demonstrates that our economy and monetary system of today needs an overhaul.

Now, we are experiencing our outdated and Neolithic methods of economy actually preventing civilization from pursuing the very historical and naturally unique methods of ensuring that life on this planet has a chance to survive beyond it, thwarted and threatened by the human creation that made it seem so possible. 

Education is mired with budget cuts and bureaucracy, innovation and prosperity are limited by economic dynamics beyond the control of any governing or authoritative entity, and the future of every man, woman and child to exist for the next several generations is being mortgaged for snap-judgments of today. There is no other way of putting this or seeing this: the methods governing our monetary systems and economy are broken, failing, and only continuing to degrade. The economy doesn't require a boost or a stimulus because those things are always temporary and subject to too much risk. They're like trying to put out the fire by shutting down the alarms. What's needed within the economy of this planet is a paradigm shift. If that does not happen and happen soon, our societies, our people, and our planet will continue to be at risk. 

The only comfort is that Nature is still occurring and that the way things are now are only part of an ongoing process that will continue to function well into the future (and likely beyond 2012). But part of the unique aspect of humanity and what separates humanity from the remainder of the animal kingdom is humanity's ability to recognize the threats and the opportunities, the limitations and the possibilities, and beyond the now. So we have yet to see how these evolutionary gifts that Nature has bestowed upon humanity overcomes what has become humanity's greatest challenge- the subjugation of humanity to a human creation. 

As long as we view space exploration to be a trite and expensive science project afforded only through affluence and intellectual appeasement, we will continue to demonstrate that we're closer to the Neolithic man of prehistory rather than closer to the humanity that could achieve genuine sentience and civilization. Some may laugh when they see a monkey reach through the bars of its cage and grab a piece of fruit that prevents the monkey's fist from being brought back into the cage. They would laugh because they recognize the futility and lack of judgment on the part of the stubborn monkey. So, they should recognize that humanity's fistful of fruit is its present method of economy and that the only thing in the cage is that economy.