Quote:
Originally Posted by FriedPhoton
I think the best reason, and the one that should motivate us to reach for the stars as quickly as possible, is survival of the human race (and as many Earth species as we can take with).
Anything could happen to Earth. There is no question that if we are peaceful we will overpopulate it and die in our own waste. If we have wars the population will be checked but there is the chance that some group or country will unleash a weapon that will either make the planet unlivable or kill too many of us to sustain the species.
If I could go to another planet knowing that I could select a country-sized territory for my own I would jump on that ship in a heartbeat.
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Hmmm, are you sure that most people really care about the survival of humanity in the abstract? I mean, humans are obviously wrecking the biosphere and polluting earth severely, but people keep right on burning fossil fuels when alternatives are available. Also, human overpopulation is a major threat to earth's survival, but few support birth control.
The human race, as a whole, does not seem tpo take it's survival very seriously and often acts in ways opposed to it's survival.
As the T800 said in T2: "It is in your nature to destroy yourselves."