February 01, 2003
And some people wonder

And some people wonder why we travel into space with all the risk involved.

y6y6y6 a poster in a Metafilter thread explained it clearly. I quote:

"Why do we even bother?"

Think about where we were as a species 300 years ago. As humans we explore. 300 years from now we will look back from space and think that asking such a question was quite simpleminded.

I'm sure 300 years ago people said the same thing about explorers and heros setting off in ships.

I'm sure 3000 years ago people asked the same question about families heading off across the tundra.

I'm hopeful that there will always be people who are willing to explore. And I'm thankful that there will always be governments to fund them.

How could we not bother? How could we sit in our couches and say, "That's it. That's enough. We will explore no more."

You nailed it y6y6y6. Thank you.

Posted by michael at February 01, 2003 11:08 PM