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Each year we spend billions on space exploration, can we justify these spendings while more than 10% of the entire world are chronically malnourished or billions can't access even basic health care?
The obvious explanation would be that agencies such as NASA, ESA, JAXA... provide benefits that indirectly improve humanity but that is not what I am talking about. There is no doubt that such agencies provide great contributions to the scientific field and society, but can we justify research projects such as those studying Mars, the origins of the universe, life on planets that are thousands of light years away...? These are topics that are almost purely out of human curiosity and of which the benefits most likely won't appear for a thousand more years.
I can think of better investments to improve societies in the long term such as global internet networks to spread information efficiently or structured actions to close the yield gap.
I do not want to discuss the examples I mentioned above but mainly the overall idea whether those billions of dollars could be better invested elsewhere or not, or why this is not a good idea.
I kindly ask anyone to leave his or her comments/opinions on this discussion via https://debato.org .
I'm curious to hear your point of view!
We all see things differently. Honestly if we look at this question, and answer it with an uneducated mind, feeding the world with the intended fund to explore the space would be our resolution. Whereas, it's beyond ordinary sympathy for people's basic necessities.
Besides, NASA is not the reason people are going hungry. It seems we are not looking closely at our various political system. The corruption, mismanagement and misappropriation of fund, diversion of public fund into private projects and so on should be the major concern.
Space exploration is a project that is embarked on to save the world. We are all cheering about the improvement in our technologies. We all benefit from it and all these cannot be achieved without going an extra mile. There are many natural resources in the màrs that is yet to be discovered. We are not going there to relax or have fun. Its all for the good of the people. Sooner or later this planet will run out of some basic things for survival. Is that when we will start running helter skelter for a way to survive? It is not a news that environmental degradation is already an issue. In few years the case will be worse. Which way out? Let's plan ahead. I'm not saying it is good for people to die of hunger but the question is ; Is it the fund dedicated for space exploration that the hungry people need to survive? Affirmatively No. Please don't let's mix things up. These are two different entities.
This is the fact : No one can halt the journey of intellectual discoveries, so please let's keep the drama out of the question and think as reasonable people.
It is as if you are already giving up our planet. Like a place that can be plundered and then neglected. But plundered and exhausted territory can very well be restored, renatured and made alive. People have every ability to do so. But if we spread a pessimism and think that our salvation is to be found in interstellar journeys and the resources of foreign planets, then we only want to care reluctantly about the boring old earth. The reason for the space travel, is from my point of view not an end-time view, but human curiosity and adventure desire. The never standing still human explorer spirit, who dares to venture into the vastness of space to see, to recognize and to marvel.
It is less urgent from my point of view that outside terrestrial resources can be brought to earth to an extent that is sufficient to solve ecological problems. Earthly projects seem far more promising to me, such as the greening of a previous desert, the Chinese Loess Plateau lead by a guy named John D. Liu. To make devastated landscapes arable again by permaculture methods and an active participation of the local inhabitants an as important task as the exploration of the universe.
The knowledge of modern physics and astronomy could work hand in hand with the knowledge of microbiology and other faculties, such is partly tried and propagated by committed scientists. It is, as always, a long way to such a form of cooperation and we could all feel called upon to call on our strengths and competences in interaction with each other.
So what do you do best? What are the consequences of the positive insights gained in your life? Where do you find inspiration and fulfillment?
Which projects do you personally fund and support? Is there anything you would like to recommend as something worthwhile to pay attention to?
Short answer = no!
Although it is "cool" in interesting and exciting for space exploration, we still know very little about this planet or our oceans...
Great question @samve!
Hi @snowyknight! I'm glad you decided to join. The debate is actually designed to be viewed (and answered) on debato, a new platform designed to organize and structure such discussions. You should check it out, I believe it will grow into an interesting platform for people of different points of view to share their thoughts in an organized matter. (something regular comment sections lack) 😃
Hey!!!
Long time no speak! Ok cool, I will go check it out, have not been there yet. Are you enjoying it? aka debato?
Yes! i'm developing it, It is a fun project to invest my time in and there have been many kind people offering feedback 😃
Yes, absolutely spending the money is a great investment. According to a Huffington Post article (https://www.huffpost.com/entry/misconceptions-nasa_b_3561205) studies have estimated that each dollar spent in the NASA budget results in a $7-$14 return of the investment. NASA's budget is only about 0.5% of the federal budget so why save a nickel today to lose multiple dollars of returned investment which mostly goes to the U.S. Treasury to help fund other programs such as social security.
Eliminating NASA completely wouldn't help those billions of people because that problem isn't scientific. If it was a problem of science it would already be solved because the technology to feed, clothe and house everyone on Earth already exists. On one hand the problem is cultural because there are groups of people who voluntarily reject medical treatment to their own detriment and are often suspicious of medical professionals who offer help. It's also a political problem because there are political leaders who restrict access to medical services to their citizens because citizens who are sick or malnourished lack the spirit to revolt and are more concerned with trying to live one more day.
The one thing that has decreased in price and is cheaper now than it was 50 years ago is information and one of the most efficient ways to get out of poverty and stay out of poverty is to become educated. NASA's research contributions that have lead up to the smartphone have helped to allowed a cheap and very powerful computational device to be made available to the poor. According to https://www.businessinsider.com/world-population-mobile-devices-2017-9 two-thirds of the world is connected by mobile devices and by 2020 alsmost 75% will be connected.
That's just one example. NASA research has lead to new materials, medicines, optics, ect. that has affected almost everybody on Earth to one degree or another.
This is one of my favorite arguments so far! Although it seems as if the first link (huffpost) does not seem to be working?
Thanks. I just tried the link and it opened in a new window for me on Google Chrome. If it still doesn't work for you you might try accessing it through a search engine. The article title on huffpost.com is "5 Popular Misconceptions About NASA" by Lauren Lyons.
Hi @samve: I've opened a second account so I can engage in wonderful initiatives like this.
Of course we should explore space. Of course we should feed millions. As long as there is a market for Rolls Royce, Cartier and 100 foot yachts, we've got money for both.. As long as there is money for Trident missile systems (is that model out of date, now?), we've got money to feed millions and money to explore. Plus, of course, exploration involves an industry, and industries dependent on that industry. Education, jobs, economic growth that can be fueled by exploration. This leads to economic growth and the ability to feed millions.
There's my answer. Great question :)
Oddly enough the proponents of removing or limiting space exploration do not do the same when it comes to military spending or other non-value adding endevours which are orders of magnitud larger.
If anything, investing in STEM (that includes space exploration) will give us the tools to combat poverty and human misery via new knowledge and spinoff technology.
In addition it doesn't have to be a zero-sum game. Why not invest in both instead of wasting resources in other none productive activities such as military spending as I pointed out in in my previous comment?
Thank you for your comments. If you want people to be able to interact with your statement, try posting your argument via debato.org. This question is designed to have arguments both pro and con. Structuring these is wat debato does :D
I personally think that the space propaganda is just a big money making machine.
Thanks for sharing your view on the topic! The discussion is designed to be structure in arguments both pro and con. So if you want to interact, or be able to interact with other arguments, try visiting the discussion on debato.org
There are always many problems, we can't wait till all these problems are solved.
Thank you for your reply, I already have a question about that statement! but if you want to contribute to the discussion, and want other to be able to interact with your statement, you should reply to the discussion via debato.org
Just go on and look to the future. But first think of our planet if we want a brighter future.
Thank you for joining in! If you want to comment on the argument optimally, try visiting the discussion on debato. There arguments are structured in pro and con and it is much more convenient to answer such questions.
New insights can come from research that might look irrelevant at first. An example of this is Galileo`s work in astronomy.
You should not trade a certainly good investment (structured humanitarian aid) for a possibility of a new discovery.
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I think I remembered people mentioned about the possibility of this world being broken by global warming, diseases etc. which kinda force us to contemplate a new place for living. Terraforming another planet so that it can be a suitable habitat for us, humans, would cost billions, even with what have been aimed by Elon Musk to reduce the cost of space travel from 10 billions to 100k USD, it still going to take a lot of times and probably some research (which requires more budget) to create a much efficient, sophisticated and low-cost technology. I have been wondering why don't we spend that money into researching something that could potentially reverse global warming and focus on health care so that diseases can be prevented. True, it is uncertain whether that would provide some kind of positive changes to the environment or how people who were well-nourished can prevent the spread of certain diseases, but so does space exploration. There are millions of possibilities and we do not know which one could potentially wipe us out one day. Everyone is taking a risk and instead of focusing on what could happen, I would be very much concern about our problems at hand and how can we help reduce its complications.
We all see things differently. Honestly if we look at this question, and answer it with an uneducated mind, feeding the world with the intended fund to explore the space would be our resolution. Whereas, it's beyond ordinary sympathy for people's basic necessities.
Besides, NASA is not the reason people are going hungry. It seems we are not looking closely at our various political system. The corruption, mismanagement and misappropriation of fund, diversion of public fund into private projects and so on should be the major concern.
Space exploration is a project that is embarked on to save the world. We are all cheering about the improvement in our technologies. We all benefit from it and all these cannot be achieved without going an extra mile. There are many natural resources in the màrs that is yet to be discovered. We are not going there to relax or have fun. Its all for the good of the people. Sooner or later this planet will run out of some basic things for survival. Is that when we will start running helter skelter for a way to survive? It is not a news that environmental degradation is already an issue. In few years the case will be worse. Which way out? Let's plan ahead. I'm not saying it is good for people to die of hunger but the question is ; Is it the fund dedicated for space exploration that the hungry people need to survive? Affirmatively No. Please don't let's mix things up. These are two different entities.
This is the fact : No one can halt the journey of intellectual discoveries, so please let's keep the drama out of the question and think as reasonable people.
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