Hi all, I'm new to the forums, although I've been reading them for quite a while. I just wanted to make an observation about a recurring topic that gets touched on a lot here, in particular regarding space exploration; that is cooperation.

John Stewart, the evolutionary theorist from Australia, has written an incredible book, called "Evolution's Arrow" ( http://www4.tpgi.com.au/users/jes999/ ). In it, he makes some very compelling arguments as to the cooperative nature of evolution, examining the history of evolution from it's earliest beginnings, to the break from physical evolution to social evolution in human history, and goes on to postulate on what it means for our future.

While some of his ideas about the future are far too spiritual/metaphysical for my own tastes, the basic premise leads me to believe that through cooperative design we can not only understand the direction of humanity's evolution, but we can guide and control it as well.

It would be nicely utopian for us all to "just get along", but the realities of human nature say we need a compelling reason to cooperate at the scales needed to accomplish a solid "push" out into the solar system and beyond. That motivation might be monetary as in commercialization, social as in politically motivated (although that in itself suggests a lack of cooperation), or it might be environmental if we continue ruining the only planet we presently occupy. Regardless of the reason, my personal belief is that it will take a threat at a global scale before we are forced to view each other as simply human. Then and only then, IMHO, will space open itself and allow us to take our place in the stars...

For anyone interested in the fields of space exploration, anthropology, or sociology, I cannot recommend this book highly enough! It explains some very complex science in layman's terms, and as I said is exceptionally compelling. It is available for free at the link above, and can be purchased in book form on Amazon.Com.

Thanks for letting me share my thoughts, and I'd love to hear yours on the subject.

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<span style='color:blue'><span style='font-size:12pt;line-height:100%'><span style='font-family:Impact'>--==:: A. W. ::==--</span></span></span>

Floored_Music! Thanks for the book tip! I like space and I completed degree programs in Anthropology and Sociology(and Psychology), so I'll look at this. And, free. You should have mentioned free in the first sentence. That sold me.

Speaking of free, or almost free, part of my goal is to reduce the costs of space exploration so much that it can be taken out of the domain of governments and the corporations, and place it more in the hands of the interested and the curious. We shall see how it goes. B)

I think you made some very good and observant comments and I'm surprised that your topic has gone uncommented on for a whole week! Thanks for contributing.

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Pre-Quote: 'To survive one has to experiment. When the environment changes, the traditional way of doing things doesn't work.'

Quote:
&quot;It's the outriders, the organisms that seem to be maladjusted before the change, which are the only ones that survive these changes...in that way a species continues.&quot;

Carl Sagan

One thing, though, that I feel I have to bring up:

So you think that in the face of global warming, an impending ice age or a terrorist threat, the US, China, and India would all join together in unity and harmony to combat it? Unlikely. No, I've done my research, and the only thing that could unite people halfway across the world from each other is a woldwide, widespread, global virus. The SARS came pretty close, lemme tell you that. It is the Viruses that stands in the way of international sapiens cooperation. After all, destruction of viruses is more scientifically motivated than politically motivated, so I believe that is what will unite the human conscience. The pathway to that, though, is destroying the economic famine in the third world countries. There is no more religious bias. With the fall of Communism and, hopefully soon, of terrorism, political bias may come to a close (In writing 3001, A. C. Clarke predicted the unfication of conscience through the defeat of politically- and religiously- motivated terrorists in the 24th century - it appears such a time may come much sooner) and once the economic crisis in the third world countries is overcome, morals will dominate stocks and world trade and international economics, and only with that could we even possibly achieve the moral cooperation Stwart speaks of.

I can not really see any form of such unity within our lifetime, unfortunately...

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Damien,
International Baccalaureate Physics teacher
Optics, Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing Instrumentation Major
Admin: Pacific Science and Art

Maybe not, but that time is still getting closer and closer...

So far as viral threats are concerned, I dont think we disagree here at all. At every major evolutionary jump mankind's ancestors have made, there was an event of scale that threatened a major segment of a sizable localized population. Be it ice age (physical evolution), climatic change such as the deforestation of North Africa over the last 12000 years (social evolution), or even world wars, which brought about the League of Nations and the United Nations (political evolution). The key is, the event must force a considerable amount of people to recognize the problem and the need to prevent similar outcomes in the future.

As the scale of human population expands, so does the scale at which threats must impose themselves in order to drive cooperation at an equivelant scale. I agree that viral or bacterialogical threats are chief among potential threats, but they certainly don't stand alone. Regardless of the specific threat, it must be sufficient enough to require cooperation in order to defeat it. Anything less only creates cooperative "sidebars" in history, such as the 1991 coalition to repel Iraq from Kuwait. Even though Arab and western forces cooperated to accomplish the goal, the threat, and thus the goal itself, was not grand enough to bridge east-west differences long-term.

As far as religious bias is concerned, however, I'll have to say I cannot disagree strongly enough. Look at the explosion of Islamic extremism in the last 30 years, with promises to get far worse before it gets better. Christianity still carries the taint of 2000 years of cutural genocide that cannot be simply swept under a rug - their same missionary tactics are still invading non-christian cultures at a global scale today. Even the moderate islamists have a hard time not identifiying the Bush administration's war against "evil bad guys" as another chapter in the christian crusade to control the holy lands.

Religious intolerance, to me, is in fact likely to be the source of more, not less, threats to our future. Unlike other wars, which may be based on the competition for natural resources, territorial claims, or competing political philosophies, wars driven by religious indifferences can rarely achieve peace through diplomatic or negotiated compromises. That is because they are fostered by the very intolerant nature of religions themselves. "He who is not with god is against him" or "Suffer not an infadel among you to live" - every major world religion, with few exceptions, is exclusionary in nature, and pass on such teachings as ordained truth.

Can you imagine what it would take to cross these boundaries of religious belief? One can compromise on water rights, campaign finances, or a line-item veto; there is no compromising when a god is concerned. So what will it take? A global invasion from outer space? The discovery of a civilization on earth so old that it invalidates whole religions in a single bound? I have no clue, but the idea that religious bias is dead could be no farther from the truth today than at any other time in history.

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<span style='color:blue'><span style='font-size:12pt;line-height:100%'><span style='font-family:Impact'>--==:: A. W. ::==--</span></span></span>

Hehehe, yeah I guess the marketeer in me forgot to put the appropriate emphasis on free. How's this:

Coming to a website near you !!! FREE - FREE - FREE !!!
John Stewart's globally acclaimed book, "Evolution's Arrow" !!! FREE - FREE - FREE !!!
Bring only your mind as the price of admission, as it's FREE, FREE, FREE!!!

We now return you to your regularly scheduled forum. :P

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<span style='color:blue'><span style='font-size:12pt;line-height:100%'><span style='font-family:Impact'>--==:: A. W. ::==--</span></span></span>

When I was talking about religion, I was referring to the globalized treatment of religions during and post-WWII. WWI was about politics, and WWII about religion. With the fall of Nazi Germany and the discovery of the horrors of the Holocaust, the world, and especially the Catholic Church, decided that one's religion would nevermore divide individuals or peoples. That decision, apparently, has not emanated with the Islamic Fundamentalists. But the fight with them, if there is one, will be about economics. Trust me there. If there even is a WWIII.