‘The Human Condition’ and a look at world politics shows us exactly what that condition is. A homegrown entrepreneur has become the wealthiest individual on the planet – Elon Musk! What are his intentions for his newfound wealth? Space exploration. I love a success story as much as the next person and exploration is inevitable. Man has been exploring since he first opened his eyes to the world around him. I suspect at first it was plain curiosity and then necessity, but what drives the current explorers? Perhaps a bit of both, or are we trying to escape the chaos we have created on planet earth? Can the Elon Musks’ of the world help us escape the chaos created by the way we interact with each other here?
It may be easier to switch off the television, never read newsprint and decrease our social media interaction, but will we? That would be to live permanently in a bubble and not as in the temporary situation Covid has forced on us. I doubt that living on Mars would change our relationships too much. The physical and practical changes adventurers experience, when they dare to go beyond the frontiers of space, will have little effect on our human condition. It may become a good place to build a penal colony where despots, corrupt politicians and big business polluters get banished, so earth can start re-building a better place for all.
