Where Did Faust Go?
Originally posted to iFunny on 08/27/2022
One of the things that consistently surprises me on here is how many people think that we will never explore space; that it’s a waste of time and resources. Especially when the same people that espouse such nonsense will turn around and praise their ancestors for taming America. It’s so jarring to me that most of the time my first reaction is that they must be joking, but they seldom are.
Sometimes they will say that we need to conquer Earth; that we still haven’t explored everything or that we haven’t fully mastered it. Frankly, I find this to be ridiculous. The only parts of Earth we haven’t yet explored are deep in the ocean and I guess Antarctica. We’ve discovered every continent and surveyed every tract of land so unless you want to just start slapping Wal-Marts everywhere, I don’t think there’s really more to conquer or claim here.
It’s not like either Antarctica or the ocean is a treasure trove of resources either. Antarctica is a frozen wasteland (Uncle H jokes aside) and yeah maybe you could do some deep sea mining or something but that isn’t going to be nearly as profitable as mining the exact same resources on the surface. I’m not saying we shouldn’t explore the sea or Antarctic (that would be hypocritical), I think we should explore them (for funsies) but you can’t claim space is a waste of time and then say let’s go explore the arctic or the ocean.
I think a lot of it stems from the fact that people don’t understand what exactly we would be mining in space. Most people probably just assume we would mine the same stuff we would mine on Earth, and I’m sure we would get at least some of that, but that isn’t why mining in space is so profitable. For one, Tritium is abundant in space, particularly on celestial bodies that don’t have magnetic fields such as the Moon. Two of the byproducts of the Sun’s nuclear processes are Tritium and Helium-3, which it blasts off into space in all directions. When they hit the Earth, basically all of the Tritium/He-3 is deflected before it reaches the surface and so there is very little naturally occurring Tritium and He-3 on Earth. Both of these molecules are highly promising for the future of nuclear power and would be critical in not only powering Earth, but also in fueling expeditions deeper into space. In fact, a Lunar mining base could be the jumping point for an extracting operation on Jupiter, where it would be even easier and cheaper to mine. Asteroid mining is another big draw, and I think it’s probably what most people are confused about, because they assume we would just mine relatively common elements like copper or iron. We’d certainly mine them, yes, but the reason why asteroid mining would be so profitable is because asteroids are basically the only source of metals like platinum which are valuable for fabricating electronics. And it’s not like the demand for these metals is going to go down, in fact they’re just going to skyrocket as we get more and more technologically advanced.
But it’s not just about the possibility of material gains, that’s never been the only reason (arguably not even he main reason) for exploring. The sense of adventure, the Faustian Spirit, that is built in to all humans (at least Europeans anyways) is more than enough of a justification. The Spaniards explored the Americas based entirely on simple rumors of a city of gold. Westward expansion was basically just a bunch of people deciding they wanted something new in life so they went and conquered the Great Plains. Manifest Destiny is the only justification you should ever need. When Americans or Traditional (Substack) posts a “Your sacrifice will be honored in the coming Empire!”/”Join the Imperium today!” post with dudes in spaceships navigating through an asteroid field or something, you should feel a primal stirring deep in your soul; a yearning for adventure because it’s natural and right. The fact that so many iFunniers are so quick to disregard space as a new frontier blows my mind because of this.
How many people do you think told Christopher Columbus he was a lunatic for trying to find a Western route to India? How many people do you think told the pioneers not to go out West because it was too dangerous? How many people do you think derided Ferdinand Magellan as a madman when he set out to circumnavigate the globe? And do you know what all those people that told them not to, called them madmen, told them it wasn’t worth the risk, had in common? They were weak, pathetic, people who lacked vision. They are the forgotten. The couldn’t comprehend what Magellan and Columbus were doing because they were bugs in comparison, and you are too if you deny the alluring appeal of space.
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If someone thinks that the purpose of space is only for science but not exploration, then they are missing all the potential engineering marvel waiting to be discovered
This is the problem with today's nerd-ish space scene, as opposed to the old's jock-ish space scene, today's people are too reliant on technology (robot) to do the work for them so that can replace human, hence the "human needs not apply", as opposed to actually allows the human to be able to do something they initially can't by themselves
Even when it comes to space enthusiasts, the attitudes were the usual "why bother going to space, just send a probe there", "a robot can do it for you why bother going there, it is dangerous, do you want to die?"