> Musk, and probably Bezos, have goals that were previously only attainable by nation-states, which require nation-state-sized budgets.
A Pale Blue Dot by Carl Sagan discusses this a bit, not Musk and Bezos, but the cost of exploring space and his hope that space exploration was finally what would bring various nation states and humanity together. The irony is not lost on me that instead of bringing humanity and democracy to space, we instead brought back kings.
Perhaps I'm pessimistic, but I feel like humanity is a long way from our collective advancements being used for altruism. Space represents new territory to conquer. Smartphones aren't being used as the windows into global enlightenment, but more so as a means to spread hate and misinformation in manners that benefit the powers that be. Any of these things are relatively agnostic and still hold promise for the optimistic, but humanity needs a lot of growth for those dreams to be realized.
> Perhaps I'm pessimistic, but I feel like humanity is a long way from our collective advancements being used for altruism.
There’s less people in poverty than there ever has been in human history. Even with ongoing global conflicts, the world is still existing in one of the most peaceful times in human history. Could we do better? Of course. Are some people left out? Definitely. Humans as a whole are relatively young however, and we’re still figuring things out.
> Space represents new territory to conquer.
“Who are we? We find that we live on an insignificant planet of a humdrum star lost in a galaxy tucked away in some forgotten corner of a universe in which there are far more galaxies than people.”
~ Carl Sagan
What is there to conquer in infinity..? The idea that space is new territory to conquer is more of a reflection of the state of humanity than actual reality.
> Smartphones aren't being used as the windows into global enlightenment, but more so as a means to spread hate and misinformation in manners that benefit the powers that be.
This is true, that said, smartphones have also empowered people to learn new languages, collaborate on Wikipedia, and share lives across space and time. It’s easy to get lost in the noise of everything humanity does wrong. That’s only because no one is talking about what humanity does right.
> Any of these things are relatively agnostic and still hold promise for the optimistic, but humanity needs a lot of growth for those dreams to be realized.
It is my hope that humanity never stops growing and learning how to better itself.
A Pale Blue Dot by Carl Sagan discusses this a bit, not Musk and Bezos, but the cost of exploring space and his hope that space exploration was finally what would bring various nation states and humanity together. The irony is not lost on me that instead of bringing humanity and democracy to space, we instead brought back kings.