Book - Humans in Outer Space - Interdisciplinary Odysseys (Studies in Space Policy)

Product Description

The space-faring nations are heading for the human exploration of the Moon, Mars and Near-Earth Objects. They might be soon prepared with regard to technology development. But they also need to benefit from the humanities (history, philosophy, anthropology), the arts as well as the social sciences (political science, economics, law) for mastering this immense endeavour.

The European Science Foundation (ESF), the European Space Agency (ESA), and the European Space Policy Institute (ESPI) have organised the first comprehensive trans-disciplinary dialogue on humans in outer space. It investigates the human quest for odysseys beyond Earth's atmosphere and reflects on the implications of the findings of extraterrestrial life.

The articles in this book present, for the first time, a comprehensive analysis by all relevant disciplines responding to the questions of how, why and with what goal humans explore outer space. More than twenty experts shed light on the thrilling perspectives space exploration provides for science, technology, politics and culture.

One World Government

I spend a lot of time these days pondering the efficacy of establishing a single world government to oversee human matters. On one hand, it seems that a massive, coordinated effort is all that will bring about the necessary purpose and change to develop a plan that will need to encompass the entire planet. But on the other, great things have been done, with cooperation between disparate sovereign nations, for centuries. A worldwide communications structure now spans the Earth and the Heavens. A travel network allows one to arrive safely on the other side of the world within a day. Information is spread, ideas shared, and situations resolved all without a worldwide governance body.
But can this last?
I say no. Yes, the world can continue in its way for years to come, perhaps even centuries. And perhaps, we will get off this rock and out among the stars. But why hamper the process with political conflicts, non-standardized technology, disparate plans and the like? What is the real fear behind a World Governmental Body?
Some will say it is a futile effort - just look at the corruption and inefficiency of the UN. The inability to maintain peace and stability tells greatly against such a plan. But the thing that will truly bring about change is not a peaceful, happy coalition of countries working together. The only thing that might bind the nations of the Earth together is war. Conquest and ruin on a scale previously unimaginable. A squashing of each and every nationstate, subjugated to the will of the One Government. Only then, can standards be enforced. Resources used towards specific, humankind-spanning projects. But! The argument goes, large government is inefficient and wasteful. Full of corruption. Oppression for the sake of the few. And all these charges are correct, and all of these things will happen.
But at the end, after perhaps decades or even longer, the human spirit will rise and transform the oppression into benevolence. The egregious into the just. But only by travelling through this fire will humankind be forged into something greater, a dedicated race to colonize the galaxy that we live in. Only the full focus of our will and resources will get us off this rock. Are hundreds of years of ruin and tragedy worth the final price?

Surveillance Society

We live in a surveillance society. This is not news. At least, it shouldn't be - cameras have been around since 1826, and the concept goes back a thousand years (around 1015). And the concept of spying goes back even farther - the origins of secretly listening in on someone's conversation probably goes back to the prehistoric age, where Blarg was positive that Urg was hoarding some mammoth meat and he wanted to catch out his rival.
But what does it mean, really, to be surveilled in this day and age? Even right now, as I type this entry, my words are being autosaved in a database whose location and purpose I know not. Sure, it's probably innocuous enough. But in reality, anything you do on the internet is logged somewhere, and for some completely unrelated reason, could be brought to see the light of, erm, day? I say that because it's more like light of some office where a beurocratic type is pulling the information in his cubicle, a la Office Space. But digression aside, Youtube recently had to give up records of user's viewing in a lawsuit with Viacom. Which means every copyrighted movie blurb, every NFL game clip, every troubled youth clip watched in the supposed privacy of one's own home, can be laid bare for the world to see.

Not only this, but cameras are everywhere now. Stoplights, street corners, stores, all under the watchful eye of...who? Elected officials, government workers, corporate security guards, store clerks. There was a great movie that was really ahead of it's time, "Enemy of the State", that showed some amazing technology for it's time (1998) but was probably available at least in concept then, and fully operational today (if not even more advanced). Another quick aside, Gene Hackman plays a character very similiar to a character he played in "The Conversation" , a surveillance movie from 1974 that was likewise ahead of it's time.

So what does this mean for us? Do we just gracefully bow down and allow the surveillance to continue? Should it? Why not? If you aren't doing anything wrong, then you don't have to worry, right?

NAU - The 51st State

Everybody knows that there are 50 states. What is often not mentioned, is that there were less before. It has been 50 years since the 50th state was admitted to the Union, and now it must be discussed whether we will ever admit another State. There are many possibilities, with some being reasonable and some being far beyond foolishness to consider. But consider them we must.

1. Canada. People often, when naming Canada the 51st state, consider that it will join as a single country. They don't think of the fact that Canada is made up of 10 provinces and 3 territories. While they have sovereignty over their realm, they still have the Queen of Canada as their Head of State, who has constitutional powers of her own. It would mean that the throne would have to relinquish her claim to the country, which would most likely not happen in any peaceful way. It would take Canada to vote for their complete independence from Great Britain, which would make a very interesting event as the forces of freedom of choice of rule battled with tradition and political realities.
So assuming Canada was able to extricate itself from the Commonwealth and the Queen, it would then be discussed how exactly to merge the two. The only acceptable method of joining with the US would be for each province to vote itself out of its current membership in Canada, and into the United States as a full state or otherwise defined territory of the US. It would have to be discussed whether the US would accept the provinces as full states en masse, or if they would restrict membership to a trial basis for one or several of the provinces to start with.

That approach would raise issues of survival for the remaining provinces in the interim period, but there seems to be little risk of an invading force from overseas, and there are certainly ways to ensure fair and just rule among the provinces without the provinces that had left for the US. Which brings up a question: Would it be OK for say Saskatchewan to vote itself into the Union, while the remainder of Canada stayed fully formulated in their own right? And, would a possibility exist of accepting only the full complement of Canadian areas without even attempting a piecemeal integration?

There are definitely industries that would be affected by such a merger. The customs industry is fairly big, given the amount of trade between our nations. How would they take the news of a merger? And trucking companies that would now need to be made regulation to US rules. And banks that operate under different rules in Canada. And how would the Canadian dollar be phased out? Instant acceptance of only US currency? Or a gradual drawdown of Canadian currency replaced slowly by US dollars? Would it make sense to use that as a stepping stone to the Amero, and instigate the new currency by joining the economies into a new currency t hat was phased in all at once?

These are some serious questions that would have to be considered in detail when talking about the possibility of Canada becoming a 51st state (although 60th state and new 3 territories would be more like it).

2. Mexico - No chance right now, but a similiar strategy to Canada, without the problems of the British crown.

3. Puerto Rico - People have been agitating for PR, people have been agitating to stay independent. In a lot of ways, they are a de facto state already. Why not go the last step and vote for full statehood? It seems on the surface that the right to vote while a resident of the island is not enough of a reason to join the Union as a state, but there are other reasons also - higher Medicaid funding, lower income taxes, and a higher status in the eyes of the rest of the States, which would help in more intangible ways as Americans came to change their way of thinking about PR. Right now, popular sentiment is that Puerto Rico is "part" of the US, but they aren't really "One of us" in a determined manner. If they were to declare, I believe that they would find many people moving there, and more businesses opening on the island, giving them a needed financial boon.

4. Iraq - A topic all it's own. 51st, 52nd, and 53rd states. Although Kurdistan would most likely rather declare full independence, Turkey would never allow a sovereign Kurdistan to exist. And logistically speaking, having states in the Middle East would almost certainly start a larger war. It might be worth the effort though - from a military point of view, if Iraq were to vote itself in any way into territory status or statehood in the US, it would mean a level of dedication and commitment to the area that is lacking now. The idea of new states in the Middle East would never be accepted by the world community, though - not at this time. Even talking about it might cause huge issues. But consider it we must, after 1 or more other areas finally break the freeze and join the US.

5. Other territories under the US. Guam is the most likely candidate, and I don't know enough about Guam to even begin talking about it now. Maybe at a future time.

email - Zzzzz - Dec 10, 2007

Date: Mon, 10 Dec 2007 20:33:13 -0800 (PST)
From: Zzzzz
Subject: Re: Fwd: Fw: YouTube - NORTH AMERICAN UNION & VCHIP TRUTH
To: Exodio

I received this from Yyyyy. I will send this on to the rest of the family during the week. Is this what you really envision, Exodio?

Interesting yet quite scary YouTube presentation scenario sent to me by Yyyyy. I haven't checked urban legends or hoaxes and the way the clips are put together it could be yet another way to scare us, but then I think of what's happening in Myanmar....and it seems possible.

Xxxxx has been saying all along about the liberties we've given up in the wake of 9/11 and this seems to validate what he has said.

Watch it and draw your own conclusions....

YouTube Video - clip from Zeitgeist


Date: Tue, 10 Dec 2007 08:10:13
From: Exodio
Subject: Re: Fwd: Fw: YouTube - NORTH AMERICAN UNION & VCHIP TRUTH
To: Zzzzz


This is the stuff I read about on a daily basis. And from that, I come to the conclusion that yes, this is what is happening - whether people realize it or not. And, it is inevitable - technology progresses, society changes - this has been going on for centuries, not decades. You can find world government talk going back to the mid 1700s.

That being said, look at the US. We exist only because of a world empire that tried to control everything. We were just a colony of that empire, that because of the actions of the empire, we broke away from and gave rise to the greatest country the world has seen...yet. The next step in our race's history is to form a global network, to start monitoring our progress as individuals and as a race - and to do this requires technology in more and more aspects. We have already become a cybernetic culture - technology merged with biology, systems integrated more and more fully.

The internet is the nascent form of what I believe will be the first artificial intelligence. Call it Skynet (the Terminator) or the Matrix, or perhaps like in I, Robot - whatever form it will take, we are possibly helping to give birth to the first theoretically immortal intelligence this world has ever seen. And part of that is the synthesis with humanity. Will there be conflict? War? Servitude? Perhaps. Will it come unexpectedly? Yep. How does this have anything to do with One World Government and the NAU (North American Union)?

Simple - it is a symbiotic relationship. It is all connected. To truly form a culture that is capable of journeying to the stars, we must looks at ourselves more deeply and examine every aspect of our societies and how they interact with each other. And the only way to do that is through all of this technology. As a world union forms, and more come "into the fold", there is more likelihood of our little species getting off this rock and learning to spread beyond our world's shores - which is imperative to our survival as a species for the long term. I'm not talking decades or centuries, but millenia - and why should we care about that now? Because this is the groundwork. It is a work in progress, which we have been moving towards since we first picked up a tool and used it to help or hurt.

The human spirit is indomitable - there have been times when peoples have been oppressed, and enslaved, and always there is an uprising to free themselves of the shackles. Some people are pessimistic, that RFID and One World Government (OWG) will forever enslave. But from within that system, will come the key to our release also. That is always how it is. So do I think that the vision in that youtube video is how the future will look? Yes, I believe it will. But I also believe that through that journey, that zeitgeist, there will rise up again in the future a people who desire freedom, and will utilize the system that enslaves them to not overthrow, but gain control of. There are peaks and valleys in humanity's history - we might be on the slope of a valley right now. But in my mind, the end product is worth it.

A united world, with high technology, that can fully examine itself and see it's own history in black and white, instead of through the filters of writers in the future looking back. A world that understands how best to manipulate the environment, and resources, and people. A world that has been through dark times, and times of enlightenment. A world that can truly care for itself and also look outwards towards other planets, and stars.

Will the world in the coming decades be ruled by the intellectual elites and the world bankers? Perhaps. But it won't be all darkness and oppression. The average joe will continue to go through life, unquestioning and content. And those that care for the system will rise to power, and there will be abuses. Just like here in the good old USA. We think we are impervious to corruption, but our system has flaws. These flaws are evident in the current powers that have taken the helm of the ship. Do I think that these people have our best interests in mind? Nope. I think they look after themselves. But they are a useful tool for the OWGers and those behind the scenes.

So while personally, I don't really like the idea of being tagged and tracked, the coming generations will be born into a world where it is done, and will be OK with it in a way that we can never be. This is just a new technology, and like all new tech it will be abused at times and used for good at others. And, like David Rockefeller said, there WILL be world government, whether we want it or not. Wouldn't it be better to accept this, embrace it, and try to shape it in OUR image of what it can be, instead of meekly submitting to THEIR idea of it?

And that is really what it all comes down to. Open your eyes, open the eyes of the people you know, and show them that it isn't the end of the world, if the USA were to become part of the NAU. It is the beginning of the next stage. And we can help to make a difference, if we know what we are marching forward to. And it is our duty and privilege to be part of this, and impart our guiding hand onto our children, so that our ideas of what America is can be passed down through the generations. Maybe something we talk about today will be the rallying point of a generation centuries down the road, looking back to see the birth of their culture. Maybe that is just my natural hubris talking.

But regardless, what you have seen is the future, but remember that noone KNOWS how the future will unfold, they just have their plans. So when you forward this on to other people, you can either be negative about it, or you can look for the positive - and that will affect how our future history unfolds. The smallest thing can make a difference.

email - Doc Q. - Dec 14th 2007

From: Exodio
Sent: Friday, December 14, 2007 3:18 PM
To: Doc Q.
Subject: Interstellar Travel

Other than that i've been blogging a little bit on interstellar travel. Fascinating subject. I've been thinking about how the economy aboard a generation ship would work, if they would have money/credits and earn it for their jobs, or if each person would just get a stipend regardless of their position or rank. I think it depends on how many people you have. At least 800 i think is a number some people say is the minimum for establishing a colony, but i would think more would be better. Also, how do you set up the education system to make sure the inhabitants don't fall into barbarism before journey's end?



Subject: RE: Interstellar Travel
Date: Fri, 14 Dec 2007 15:28:36 -0600
From: Doc Q.
To: Exodio

Very interesting. You basically described the classic argument for capitalism vs. communism. I would have to give that some thought. As far as number, more is always better biologically -- having a larger (and presumably healthy) gene pool will ensure diversity for adapting to change that face any group in survival over time.
It would be interesting to see how much "cultural drift" you'd get from when the colony ship leaves to when it arrives. A small and isolated group of people living by, essentially, their own code of conduct enforceable by only themselves could be really good or really bad.
I'm sure we can find historical examples both ways.



From: Exodio
Sent: Friday, December 14, 2007 3:54 PM
To: Doc Q.
Subject: RE: Interstellar Travel

Yes, that thought had occured to me as well. What kind of culture would end up at the other end? There are several ideas that come to mind to enforce an Earth Colony mindset, but if you are talking about a 50+ year journey, where the 3rd generation would essentially be the ones settling the planet, there would be little if any connection to Mother Earth. So to try and maintain that, either a military order would have to be established that kept to the same regimen, or a religion that would be able to "keep the faith" as it was known to the first generation.

I would be very interested to find examples of self-sustaining, isolated colonies on earth and see how they developed their own codes and conduct. And as for numbers, one thing that could be done to ensure genetic diversity wouldn't be necessarily needed over the course of only 3 or 4 generations - but the colony itself - so frozen eggs and sperm should be included in the ship's manifest to offer the greatest diversity once established planetside at the far end.



Subject: RE: Interstellar Travel
Date: Fri, 14 Dec 2007 16:06:16 -0600
From: Doc Q.
To: Exodio

I think it would be impossible to keep an identical culture. Even on Earth now every culture has slightly different values (some more liberal, some more conservative) than the previous. Plus, every individual in each culture may have significant differences in values and beliefs with their peers.

So perhaps that begs the question of "What is culture?" and what keeps it together. It's also important to understand that laws are not the same as tradition and only related to values (which are always in flux -- just look at social, equality, environmental or labor laws a mere 50 years ago). Plus there's the isolation of space travel.



From: Exodio
Sent: Fri, 14 Dec 2007 14:56:38 -0800 (PST)
To: Doc Q.
Subject: RE: Interstellar Travel

True enough. So then it is better to discuss the possibility of changing the previous culture in a more controlled manner than just random happenstance based on events and personalities. So, is it better to try and guide cultures based on certain, pre-determined precepts than do their best to eliminate the ability to freely
choose when the choices involve the exigencies of current events? Meaning, should a "Do not kill" law be on the books, but allow the ship to determine whether that law be applicable to unforeseen circumstances?

The point I am trying to get to, is what manner of society should be striven for? Political systems need to be deeply explored and fitted to the possible outcomes aboard ship. A permissive ship society would allow the most adaptable crew in a lot of ways, so that their actions would be those uninhibited by rigid rules. This would lead to greater survivability in risk situations, at the possible expense of the ship becoming something entirely different from what we intend.

One possible paradigm would be that of military rule. the entire ship ultimately under command of the soldiers. Two things need to be addressed immediately: First, should a military presence even be considered
for a colonial voyage? Second, to which government would the military contingent be representative of? After those were determined, if the decision was Yes to the first point, then the many ramifications of that must be explored even before considering the answer to the second.

Which is really leading up to the question: What if a military-controlled ship were to spawn a colony of warriors, that ended up hostile to the government of Earth?

Don't even get me started on the religious part.

Interstellar Travel - Jobs - Command

The ones who run the ship. Who will they be? The ship must be under the ultimate command of one person or group. It is this group, imbued with the ability to command any other person or group on the ship. How will it be decided who that is? A democracy? Dictatorship? Military? Kingdom?
The two facets to command are the structure of the top authority, and the political group that controls it.

In general, the captain of a ship is the ultimate authority aboard ship, and has final say in all matters pertaining to the running and maintenance of the ship. However, what happens aboard a ship where there is a whole society aboard, that isn't part of the command structure or day-to-day operation of the ship? There is little precedent in history for this, because all ship voyages have either been under the auspices of a civilian or military authority at home. Several exceptions come to mind, such as pirate ships flying under their own flag, and cruise ships that submit to a corporate authority rather than a governmental one.
But neither of these examples encompasses the situation that will occur aboard interstellar ships. There will be a command structure in charge of the ship itself, and a civilian authority in charge of societal tasks such as food production, medical services, and menial tasks involving garbage and waste recycling among others. So a better place to look for historical precedent might be at colonies with distant government administered through regional governors, or military occupation of conquered territories (not that there would be any sort of military conquering of the civilian portion, but rather the dynamics that developed between the military leaders and the suborned inhabitants).



Organization
Ship Maintenance
Food Production



Interstellar Travel - Jobs
Interstellar Travel

North American Union pt. 2

The Amero is a proposed currency for the North American Union. It would unite the currencies of the U.S., Canada and Mexico into a single currency. This would act as the Euro does, and replace the national currency of each Nation. This would be a next step towards a single currency used the world over. There are many ramifications to this idea, and it is denied that there is any sort of movement towards this end.

Is this a good thing? Would the U.S. economy get stronger? Canada, Mexico? Or would it hurt the economy by eliminating the exchange rate between the countries? Who would benefit the most from such a move?

North American Union pt. 1

One of the biggest reasons I started this blog was to put into some sort of order my ideas and impressions of the "mythical" North American Union. The idea started at least as far back as 1849 in Canada, and I would have to assume that the threads of it go even further back. After all, what were the Powers That Be really interested in North America for? Land, resources, and control. It is what drove the Pioneers west, to settle across the land and claim it for their way of life. The artificial divisions created by Nation-States are nothing more than modern-day extensions of the Empires that came to settle this continent. The British (Canada, which is still part of the Commonwealth, and the US which broke off from the Brits), the French (Quebec, which still has separatist ideas including divisions in the official language of the province) and Spain (Mexico).

So now here we are at the beginning of the 21st Century, and talk of merging into a NAU is reviled and scorned. The Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America was formed in March of 2005 and is pointed at by most of the conspiracy theorists as a major indication that the governments of Canada, US and Mexico are really in cahoots, plotting to merge into the Union and strip the individual Nations of their Sovereignty. The NAFTA Superhighway is another common bugaboo, a corridor from Mexico to Canada 4 football fields wide that will have truck and rail transportation, and will allow the free movement of goods between all 3 nations. Further evidence is the loosening of restrictions on Mexican trucks into the US to deliver goods. Members of the transportation industry say that this will destroy the Trucking Industry in the US and that dangerous and unregulated Mexican trucks will kill Americans and take business away from US companies, putting hundreds if not thousands of small US trucking companies out of business. This is an issue that goes back years, and has proponents on both sides of the matter, for and against allowing Mexican trucks access to US highways.

So what does this mean for the US? Cheap immigrant labor coming into yet another sector of our country, undermining local companies and putting Americans out of business? Or the next logical step in utilizing the resources, both manpower and companies, of the entire continent in a beneficial way to the whole of the populous?

More next time.

North American Union pt. 2

Matrix Ships

Ever wonder about practical applications for a Matrix? On the surface it seems like a terrible idea- enslaving people as batteries and feeding a fake reality into their brains. But what about benevolent and useful applications, with voluntary participants? First thing I thought about was Matrix Ships, for interplanetary expeditions. One of the biggest problems facing humanity on a 50+ year journey is keeping occupied in the small confines of a ship. Nowhere to get away, trapped in a tin can for decades at a time. And how to educate the children? Because there would have to be children - by the time the ship reached its destination, the original settlers would be too old to work.

So multifold purpose: Entertainment on the voyage for the originals, and a way of educating the children so they understand what trees, grass, sky etc actually are.

And bringing that concept to the classroom right here on Earth - we are already on the way with MMORPG's and other online applications like Second Life. The next generation is already growing up online, why would it be a problem to take the next logical step and transmit the data directly into the brain?

In concept, The Matrix seems like it would be quite the useful tool.

North American Union

The North American Union is an idea put forth by some as a possible direction for the U.S.A., Canada and Mexico to pursue.

NAU Pt. 1 - Introduction
NAU Pt. 2 - The Amero

An Old Journal Entry

I've never been a huge journal keeper. Occasionally I will jot down some thoughts, or ideas, or short stories, but mostly these things stay inside my head. I came across this old journal entry from October 14th, 2002.

"Is war in the best interests of the USA? What are the larger issues that 'We the People' cannot hope to understand when it comes to dealing with politics on the high level that the president and the staff of the government have to deal with on a daily basis? Our interests as citizens come down to domestic concerns: jobs, money, security in our streets. They have nothing to do on a daily basis with who is in charge of Iraq. They have nothing to do with the personal struggles of citizens of other countries. They have nothing to do with the interests of the corporate entity of the federal government, save with how the decisions of that government affect our daily lives. When do we throw down our gauntlet and say to the ruling body of this country, 'This is not the way things should be!'? How can we begin to understand the economics, the politics, the struggles between nations? This burden is one that is visited upon those citizens that choose to involve themselves in the greater stage of the world for the greater good of the rest of the citizenry that choose to live their lives as they see fit.

This country is one that was founded upon the principle that the government should exist for the good of the people. Not the people with money, or power, but everyone from all walks of life. Or was it? Who are our founding fathers and what situations did they find themselves in that drove them to proclaim their independence from Great Britain? What battle cries did they raise to gather the support needed to pursue a successful war against their rightful rulers?"

I cleaned up the writing a bit, nothing was capitalized and some parts were even more rambling than they are now. This was one of my first political writings. 9/11 opened my eyes to a different world, as it did with many Americans. And yet a full year after was really the first time I tried putting these new thoughts onto paper (in a manner of speaking). Was I naive back then? Am I naive now? Probably. But I constantly seek to learn and better my understanding.

Things I Am Interested In

Every subject is important, so some people say. I agree, but only some are of immediate interest. The most relevant items that I think of now are:

• World Politics
• U.S. Domestic Issues
• The Space Program(s)
• Communications and Technology
• One World Government
• Religion
• Relations with China
• The U.N.

Everything is connected. Art, history, music, science, everything is just a part of the web of human lives and history on the planet. And soon, in the Solar System. So how can one limit the subjects one studies? But here is my starting point. I will examine as much as I can - the growth of economic and political unions around the world, the shape that the U.S. might take in the next decades, oil production and consumption, technology and its applications. Why one political party may be better than another. Why no religion is right or wrong. All the centrist ideas, the middle of the road solutions, these are the things I gravitate towards. Rarely do I take a hard stand on anything, unless it is taking a stand against taking a stand. But that is just my contrary nature.

There is nothing that I scoff at, really, when it comes to what I should or should not learn. Sherlocke Holmes had it wrong when he said "I consider that a man's brain originally is like a little empty attic, and you have to stock it with such furniture as you choose. ... It is of the highest importance, therefore, not to have useless facts elbowing out the useful ones."

Pish tosh! A man's brain can't be filled up. Cluttered, yes. But the task is to learn to organize the data stored in your brain, not selectively excise those facts that you deem unimportant. The least relevant seeming item might be of vital importance one day. Whether you believe in God, Karma, or Chaos, you never know for what reason you learn certain somethings. It is better to file away everything for future possible use than to second-guess the universe on what it wants you to learn.

First Post

Earth. A world unique in our Solar System, and perhaps in the Galaxy. Teeming with life. Full of varied wonders and great things. But where are we going? Through the void we travel, hurtling towards an unknown end. Content, for the most part, to live oblivious to the great tragedy that lies ahead - the end. The end of the planet, of the Sun, of the Galaxy. And why not?

Our lifetimes are long - to us. And our generations have lived, bred and transformed Earth for so little time. Several thousand years of recorded history, against the backdrop of billions of years that this rock has existed.

So why be concerned with events such as the death of our star? Why worry about events that will not happen for millions of years? Why be concerned with asteroids, meteorites, alien civilizations coming to exterminate us? These are all science fiction, and though we have records of mass extinctions, do we really think it could ever happen to us? Noone ever believes bad things will happen to them - break-ins, murders, store robberies, car accidents. And yet they happen. And happen these catastrophes will, to us, in time. It is only a matter of time.

But when that time is measured against a yardstick so long, is it really worth thinking about in our lifetime? Surely future generations will develop the technology needed to give us a fighting chance of surviving such calamities. Surely our children's children will settle the Moon, Mars, the moons of Saturn, Jupiter. Surely we will send out ships to explore and colonize Centauri, Barnard's Star, and beyond. And it will happen whether we sit here now and plan or not - reality will drive us, for humanity has proven over and over again that beyond any other imperative, to spread ourselves is innate to our nature. And so generations hence will find their way to the stars, whether we plan or not.

So why think about it at all?

Because we can facilitate. We can help. We can provide our thoughts and insight into problems that have not yet happened, and will not for a long, long time. Problems of survival in deep space. Problems of long-term livability conditions on remote planets. Problems of wars and famines yet to come. Just as we look back to the great philosophers and thinkers of bygone eras, so too will our grandchildren look back at our generations and see what we had to say. Some few will remain alive in the human consciousness. And those words will echo through the centuries, a distillation of the best we have to offer the future. Some, probably most, of what we believe and profess today will be outdated and wrong before long. But those kernels of truth, and wisdom, that are valuable enough to last - those will stay and give us our due reward in the depths of time. So why not look ahead, beyond even the centuries, to the millennia that await the human race? Why not dream?

So here I will try and put down what I think, and believe, to be the best course humanity can set itself upon. Most of what we do as a race, I believe, is unconscious. We build and destroy, procreate and kill, on whims and exigencies that we can never know. So most of what we plan comes unraveled, as new hurdles set themselves ahead of us to traverse. But adaptability is the keystone of our existence, from the time we proverbially left the trees to the latest techo-gadget that we must learn in order to thrive in today's society. The best plans allow for change, adaptability, and reconstruction in motion. But the real question is, Are any plans good, or necessary? Or do we do more harm through good intentions, rather than letting ourselves continue forward instinctively? These are the things that I want to explore.

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