I think the instability you're describing is only a result of human nature: aggression is by far the most universally motivating factor because everybody can ge

I think the instability you're describing is only a result of human nature: aggression is by far the most universally motivating factor because everybody can get behind some camp and feel righteous. This means people can get enormously pumped up to achieve some goal (destroying the bad guys). This is much, much harder with intellectual factors because people need to understand justifications and consequences far more complicated than "they hit us, so we have to hit them in order to {grow,feed,protect,whatev}". Latest example: Why go to a different planet? Personally, just for the heck of it. The financial problem is entirely artificial, because much larger sums than what Musk is talking about are being played with all the time. This amount of money could be in anybody's pocket tomorrow should the right people feel so inclined (say a couple very wealthy persons taking a fancy). I want to go for the heck of it because fascinating things can, and most probably will, come out of it. What exactly, I have no idea. It's the simple act of doing something new because, why not? What else is there to do except keep bashing each others' heads in? This is extremely hard to convey to somebody who wasn't born with, wasn't taught, or whose sense of adventure was ripped out in the course of growing up. My point is, humanity's many civilizations' instability caused by war is an artifact of evolution. Throughout mankind's history, bashing your foe's head in was the best way to survive, and humanity has yet to overcome this rather primitive and impulsive behaviour. On a side note, not every species survives by war, but by symbiosis.