Exploring space with humans for the possibility of positive technological side effects does not seem a reliable, long term way to increase the number of people

Exploring space with humans for the possibility of positive technological side effects does not seem a reliable, long term way to increase the number of people in space at any given time, if that is your primary goal. It seems like a way to temporarily boost the number by around 3. If the goal is to increase the number of humans in space for the sake of increasing the number of humans in space, one would probably need to do research into a colonial business model sustainable enough to get investors and governments on board.