4 ms·

I am not sure what that purpose would be if not to spread life into a cold, empty universe. In my view, sending our physical bodies elsewhere is irresponsible

I am not sure what that purpose would be if not to spread life into a cold, empty universe. In my view, sending our physical bodies elsewhere is irresponsible unless they are a container for a store of meaning and magnanimity that we've not yet expressed here on earth. It's as irresponsible as the US sending forces to Iraq with nothing to offer except carnage and art lessons about Marcel DuChamp's Toilet. (See Adam Curtis' amazing docu, Bitter Lake.) We acted as envoys of freedom and democracy, but it turned out we lacked the substance. I'm reminded of Cpt. Adama's speech in which he essentially asked "Who are we? Why do we deserve to survive?"

cgriswald 10y ago
Your view seems rather undefined from my point of view. I don't know what meaning and magnanimity you would like us to possess before reaching for the stars, but I'm going to suggest two reasons why we should still reach: 1. If you agree that we have the capacity to reach the whatever threshold you're requiring, wouldn't it be irresponsible to let ourselves perish (along with that potential) on Earth? 2. Perhaps becoming a multi-world species is a prerequisite for humans to reach that threshold.