2716: Space Oddity
Char being the space-case he is, he will watch reruns of The Universe if they talk about Mars. [This isn't a criticism--I'll watch reruns of MythBusters if it's... ANY of them.] It's interesting, the amount of debate that goes into Mars, but the greatest debate is whether we should eventually colonize space, Mars being the most likely candidate for Earth II. The most obvious complaint is why don't we fix our own planet before we go tearing up the rest of the universe?
Here's the single biggest thing I learned from my stint ruling the world: The universe can fend for itself.
Whether you believe in wormholes or not--though, personally, I don't--the fact that there is not* a way to travel even the speed of light, much less faster than, means that our influence is going to be pretty limited in what's already an unimaginably HUGE universe. It's like we're a speck of dust in a grand ballroom--there's no way our one bit of dust is going to corrupt the whole place, even if we manage to spread to TWO specks of dust.
*I hesitate to say "not yet," because this involves leaps of physics well beyond our understanding about the universe as we know it. It's not simply a matter of, "Oh, we just need to keep working at it," as much as, "We recognize that matter and space react in a specific way, and what it would take to bend those rules flies well into supernatural territory." Like trying to fold a piece of paper in half more than seven times--it's possible, but you're just not going to make it to five thousand million times. It's not that I don't want to believe in faster-than-light travel that will take us to the other side of the universe--I just think it's a lot of future-focused wishing that could be better spent on more immediate things.
My specific point is, why not colonize space? Is it so bad for us to spread out a little? There's so MUCH space, after all! Yes, we should take care of our planet, because it's in our best interest. What happens, though, when our world becomes uninhabitable, thanks to Dubya and the like? Are our children's children's children's children's children doomed to extinction because, hey, it's not right for us humans to take over the universe?
Even the Earth itself is pretty big, and it's going to be fine even after a nuclear holocaust. It doesn't matter to the Earth. When it falls into the Sun in five billion years, it'll be all the same. It's human to try to personify the Earth as we do, but it's really no more human than any other mass of molten rock floating through space.
Problem is, if that's really a problem, the me that's an insignificant speck in the universe is totally zen about it all. So, the me who NEEDS A JOB doesn't feel bad about being out of work =p though, the plus side is I have no regrets about even the horrible stupid things I've done in my life [despite still having quite a bit of guilt, oddly enough].I'm thinking of a number between one and a billion. When spelled, its letters are in alphabetical order. Can you guess what number I'm thinking of?
Chars has also been batty lately--BATMANNY batty! The Animated Series seems... not pointy enough, though =( *want Will Friedle*
Here's the single biggest thing I learned from my stint ruling the world: The universe can fend for itself.
Whether you believe in wormholes or not--though, personally, I don't--the fact that there is not* a way to travel even the speed of light, much less faster than, means that our influence is going to be pretty limited in what's already an unimaginably HUGE universe. It's like we're a speck of dust in a grand ballroom--there's no way our one bit of dust is going to corrupt the whole place, even if we manage to spread to TWO specks of dust.
*I hesitate to say "not yet," because this involves leaps of physics well beyond our understanding about the universe as we know it. It's not simply a matter of, "Oh, we just need to keep working at it," as much as, "We recognize that matter and space react in a specific way, and what it would take to bend those rules flies well into supernatural territory." Like trying to fold a piece of paper in half more than seven times--it's possible, but you're just not going to make it to five thousand million times. It's not that I don't want to believe in faster-than-light travel that will take us to the other side of the universe--I just think it's a lot of future-focused wishing that could be better spent on more immediate things.
My specific point is, why not colonize space? Is it so bad for us to spread out a little? There's so MUCH space, after all! Yes, we should take care of our planet, because it's in our best interest. What happens, though, when our world becomes uninhabitable, thanks to Dubya and the like? Are our children's children's children's children's children doomed to extinction because, hey, it's not right for us humans to take over the universe?
Even the Earth itself is pretty big, and it's going to be fine even after a nuclear holocaust. It doesn't matter to the Earth. When it falls into the Sun in five billion years, it'll be all the same. It's human to try to personify the Earth as we do, but it's really no more human than any other mass of molten rock floating through space.
Problem is, if that's really a problem, the me that's an insignificant speck in the universe is totally zen about it all. So, the me who NEEDS A JOB doesn't feel bad about being out of work =p though, the plus side is I have no regrets about even the horrible stupid things I've done in my life [despite still having quite a bit of guilt, oddly enough].I'm thinking of a number between one and a billion. When spelled, its letters are in alphabetical order. Can you guess what number I'm thinking of?
Chars has also been batty lately--BATMANNY batty! The Animated Series seems... not pointy enough, though =( *want Will Friedle*