[Alberta's Child]

You are generally correct about striving and exploring, but I believe that would not apply to space travel. There is something inherently dangerous, unnatural, and of questionable value when mankind explores places whee he is unsuited to survive in his natural state.

If North America didn't have the same oxygen content and water composition that Europe had, it never would have been settled.

[driftdiver]

“There is something inherently dangerous, unnatural, and of questionable value when mankind explores places whee he is unsuited to survive in his natural state. “

Most of the Earth would not meet your criteria for being survivable if we were restricted our our natural state.

So we develop tools to help us survive. Technologies developed through and for the space programs have greatly improved our lives.

America was settled because it had great resources and a small amount of government.

[Scirparius]

You are generally correct about striving and exploring, but I believe that would not apply to space travel. There is something inherently dangerous, unnatural, and of questionable value when mankind explores places whee he is unsuited to survive in his natural state.

I disagree. I think it is just a higher level to which we must strive. We have explored some of them most inhospitable places on this earth. Crossing the continents as nomads, humans were able to pull all the resources they needed from their immediate environment. The next step of our exploration, crossing the oceans, we lost that ability: we had to carry our own shelter, water, food and other supplies. So we used tools and developed constructs (ships, etc.) to facilitate the exploration. Space exploration requires the same development and preparation, except to an even higher degree. A man outside of a properly-stocked ship on the ocean could live for a number of days, perhaps a few weeks. But more than likely, he would die. A man outside of a spaceship in space would die in seconds. Ultimately, its the same equation, the same risk, except the risk of death is certain rather than almost certain.

The void of space itself is inimical to life, but there are other planets that may not be. Long-term colonization of Mars is an achievable goal. Small-scale terraforming is not out of our technological reach. Hell, if you believe the global warming fanatics, humans are even capable of changing the climate of an entire planet.

We have an amazing, God-given ability to adapt to our environment. But we also have an amazing, God-given ability to conquer and transfer our environment for our own well-being and comfort.

We are meant to grow, strive, adapt, discover, explore and move forward. It's what human beings are ultimately designed for, physically and psychologically. That's why we stagnate and devolve when there are too many of us in a single place for too long. Its the manifest destiny of the human condition.