this post was submitted on 26 Sep 2026
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No Stupid Questions
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Why do you think it's a good idea? Like getting some gold or other minerals from some asteroids would be pretty helpful. But like why should humans have a permanent presence on another world?
Again, if you don't get it, you don't get it. I don't know how to explain to you why it's a good thing for humanity to make something greater of itself, to spread life beyond Earth.
If you don't get it, that's fine. You simply won't be part of that future. Space exploration is something that will be done by people that care about space exploration. You can stay home and play video games while others go out and explore the universe.
Some things are their own motivation, an end unto themselves. Stop looking for economic justifications. Not everything in life is about money.
This is not really a whole response to the question. I'm all for space exploration but responsible space exploration. At the current moment, humans haven't even proven themselves capable of taking care of their blue marble in the void. The last thing I think humans should do is expand our irresponsible behavior to other worlds - until we have shown ourselves capable of the great responsibility that comes with that great power.
That will never not be true. There will always be room for improvement. In fact, the moment we don't have anything to improve on Earth is the time we shouldn't expand outward, as by that point we've probably become a society of narcissists that thinks we're perfect and can do no wrong.
And moreover, expanding outward helps us protect Earth. We should be trying to move as much of our industry offworld as possible. Most of the universe is not a place we can "ruin." There is no way to irresponsibly use a dead asteroid. There's nothing to "take care of." The only biosphere in need of protection that we know of is Earth's. That's half the point of space colonization - giving us space to do a lot of the things that really shouldn't be done on a place as delicate as Earth. You can't pollute the Moon to be more lethal than it already is. It's already a barren, airless, radiation blasted hell hole.
Humans aren't Captain Planet villains. No one pollutes for the sake of pollution. Pollution is always the negative byproduct of something else. And a lot of those industrial processes would best be moved off Earth in the long term.
I don't think we'll ever be perfectly responsible. If we turn Mars into a paradise and later wipe it out through our idiocy, well at least it had a brief time as a living world. But that's fine. We can expand outward and turn a million dead worlds into a million living worlds. Will some of those new Edens later be driven to ruin by our own flaws? Certainly. But even if half die off, I'll take 500,000 new Edens over a 500,000 barren rocks.
Those who wait for the perfect time to act die of old age before they ever accomplish anything.