Pretty confident we'd still explore, just with some (appropriate) care. Too many fascinating scientific questions to answer once we discover extraterrestrial li

Pretty confident we'd still explore, just with some (appropriate) care. Too many fascinating scientific questions to answer once we discover extraterrestrial life. And if Russia and China did, the US definitely would too --- what would be the point of standing on principal in that hypothetical? Meanwhile if you're hoping, why not just hope directly that the Great Filter is behind us? It's totally plausible that the window for multicellular life to survive on a planet is generally short, like on Mars, and not long, like on Earth. Or a million other possible explanations that we also have no data for or against right now. I like to keep my science-related hopes on the side of the coolest possible result .