Comments on: Ask SciScoop : Why Should We Save Humanity? http://www.sciscoop.com/2003-10-6-81429-4932.html Scooping up science news and dropping it on your desk Thu, 18 Mar 2010 16:03:57 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 By: SilentThunder http://www.sciscoop.com/2003-10-6-81429-4932.html/comment-page-1#comment-2118 SilentThunder Sat, 31 Jan 2004 12:24:44 +0000 http://localhost/~arielschwartz/wordpress/sciscoop/?p=293#comment-2118 True, humans will never live forever. At some point or another, we'll get squashed, or blown up or burnt to cosmic ashes. But we do what we can to survive. As long as there is a way for us to avoid that mass extinction, we'll go for it.<p> And of course, if there is nothing to do, if the end of all humanity is utterly unavoidable, then we'll resign ourselves and live the last of our days doing whatever makes us happy during that short period of time. Because it HAS to be a short period of time. If we think we have enough time to avoid whatever it is that will kill us, we'll fight to the death. We'll do research and experimentation until we see a way out of it or inminent doom. that's just the way we are. Self preservation rules us (and that is not a bad thing).<p> on a personal note, I see my death, and am aware of the possibility of it coming soon. Which is why I like to take a look around every once in a while, and admire the human race and our environment. But I also know that to constantly think about my impending death will do me little good. If I kept doing that I could not plan for the future, and the uncertainty of my plans would torment me, so I forget about my death for a while, and consider it only as a time limit, even if it is somewhat ambiguous. True, humans will never live forever. At some point or another, we’ll get squashed, or blown up or burnt to cosmic ashes. But we do what we can to survive. As long as there is a way for us to avoid that mass extinction, we’ll go for it.

And of course, if there is nothing to do, if the end of all humanity is utterly unavoidable, then we’ll resign ourselves and live the last of our days doing whatever makes us happy during that short period of time. Because it HAS to be a short period of time. If we think we have enough time to avoid whatever it is that will kill us, we’ll fight to the death. We’ll do research and experimentation until we see a way out of it or inminent doom. that’s just the way we are. Self preservation rules us (and that is not a bad thing).

on a personal note, I see my death, and am aware of the possibility of it coming soon. Which is why I like to take a look around every once in a while, and admire the human race and our environment. But I also know that to constantly think about my impending death will do me little good. If I kept doing that I could not plan for the future, and the uncertainty of my plans would torment me, so I forget about my death for a while, and consider it only as a time limit, even if it is somewhat ambiguous.

]]> By: apsmith http://www.sciscoop.com/2003-10-6-81429-4932.html/comment-page-1#comment-881 apsmith Mon, 06 Oct 2003 08:58:38 +0000 http://localhost/~arielschwartz/wordpress/sciscoop/?p=293#comment-881 In part it's a matter of how you look at time. From our human perspective, time passes at a constant rate - 1 second per second of course! But scientists have long known our solar system has only a few billion years left, and the universe itself will come to one sort of death or another in a finite time (except for the rather special case of Tipler's <a href="http://www.math.tulane.edu/~tipler/summary.html">Omega Point</a> - which seems unlikely given current cosmological parameters). Does the world despair at this knowledge? Perhaps some do. Religion gives hope of something beyond this universe, and Science may too (just exactly what is that "dark energy" all about and where does it come from anyway?) <p> But look at the universe another way - in Einstein's 4-dimensional space-time, and you realize perhaps there's no reason to despair. <a href="http://imv.au.dk/publikationer/pov/Issue_14/section_1/artc13A.html">We'll always have Paris</a> after all..., and all those past events of our lives - they existed just as our present moments will always "exist" in this sense. Is it enough just to have been a participant in this strange, complex, immense, wonderful universe? Even if nobody remembers you after you're gone? <p> To me forever isn't the issue, really. It's whether we're making the best of what we have now, and how do we make our presence in the universe a more effective and interesting piece of the universe's future story. I think we could be doing a lot more! :-) <p> By the way, the Moon is arguably a lot more hospitable than Antarctica for one reason: solar power. Antarctica and the ocean bottom have almost none of it; the Moon has plenty (at least 2 weeks in four). But 'lebensraum' isn't why we'll be going there, anyway... In part it’s a matter of how you look at time. From our human perspective, time passes at a constant rate – 1 second per second of course! But scientists have long known our solar system has only a few billion years left, and the universe itself will come to one sort of death or another in a finite time (except for the rather special case of Tipler’s Omega Point – which seems unlikely given current cosmological parameters). Does the world despair at this knowledge? Perhaps some do. Religion gives hope of something beyond this universe, and Science may too (just exactly what is that “dark energy” all about and where does it come from anyway?)

But look at the universe another way – in Einstein’s 4-dimensional space-time, and you realize perhaps there’s no reason to despair. We’ll always have Paris after all…, and all those past events of our lives – they existed just as our present moments will always “exist” in this sense. Is it enough just to have been a participant in this strange, complex, immense, wonderful universe? Even if nobody remembers you after you’re gone?

To me forever isn’t the issue, really. It’s whether we’re making the best of what we have now, and how do we make our presence in the universe a more effective and interesting piece of the universe’s future story. I think we could be doing a lot more! :-)

By the way, the Moon is arguably a lot more hospitable than Antarctica for one reason: solar power. Antarctica and the ocean bottom have almost none of it; the Moon has plenty (at least 2 weeks in four). But ‘lebensraum’ isn’t why we’ll be going there, anyway…

]]>