is space travel ethical?

[silvermoon383]

@silvermoon: everything u have just said is all a matter of opinion. Opinions are welcome, but u are presenting them as facts.

So your opinions are fact yet my facts (which I can all support with science, engineering, and history) are just opinions that can be disregarded. Good to know.

And in the computer age, spelling and punctuation is not important unless what u are writing is to be published in written form. Feeling a bit nostalgic? Feel free to write me a letter.

I hate to say it, but I have a legion of English teachers behind me that would strenuously object to your belief that you can butcher the language simply because you're not writing on paper. Here's a tip about writing on the Internet: it is published in a written form. I'm not listening to you talk, I'm reading something you wrote.

 

[assyrianpride]

I am not presenting my opinions as fact, but as opinions open to dispute (which is why I created this thread), but if u wish to regard them as facts, feel free to do so.
And I suppose ur English teachers never heard of the evolution of a language?

 

[Desert Snake]

I don't get how it would be 'unethical'....

 

[assyrianpride]

@disciple: have u read any of my posts?

 

[Desert Snake]

@disciple: have u read any of my posts?

The reason you gave was vague and frankly didn't make that much sense to me, using that logic we shouldn't have seTtled AMERICA

 

[assyrianpride]

Ur absolutely right, we should never have settled America. Almost the entire land was stolen from the natives while we murdered them and isolated them into reservations. This country is an abomination to god. No wonder were being cursed with hard times.

 

[Desert Snake]

eh i'm not getting the logic here, besides space travel is hardly the same as conquest or colonization, the 'ethics' part of your argument is the one i' don't understand

 

[assyrianpride]

Well then I don't think u really read where I explained my points, because then u would get it (although u may not agree, at least u would know where im coming from)

 

[YmirGF]

being cool and being ethical have nothing to do with each other. come on, im trying to have a serious intellectual conversation here.

What an amusing notion. You say the moon landings were faked and maintain you are attempting serious "intellectual" conversation? That adds new meaning to the word nuance.

 

[assyrianpride]

So u have a right to an opinion but I don't?

 

[Leonardo]

Why are the manned space missions...well disappointing and yet the robotic space program flourishes?

Because sending squishy water bags that poop in their diapers is a bad idea! NASA should focus on robotic space exploration only. In addition the only manned space effort should focus on developing man machine interfaces that can connect to the nervous system and/or the brain. With that said; where's NASA's neuromorphic chip programs? DARPA has one, Intel, IBM and Qualcom have all developed silicon chips that can emulate millions of neural connections!

Combine AI, high resolution spectrum and material analysis devices and make it an open system where the world can experience it and all the efforts of this country's space program would be worth it.

As it stands now...manned space flight is a really bad idea...

NASA should be leading the path to "The Singularity", the future is the "Matrix" embrace it, "resistance is futile"...

 

[The Neo Nerd]

Here's a list on Wikipedia of technologies invented by NASA for the space program and is now in common use

NASA spin-off technologies - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

1 Health and medicine

• 1.1 Light-emitting diodes (LEDs)
• 1.2 Infrared ear thermometers
• 1.3 Ventricular assist device
• 1.4 Artificial limbs
• 1.5 Invisible Braces
• 1.6 Scratch-resistant Lenses

2 Transportation

• 2.1 Aircraft anti-icing systems
• 2.2 Highway safety
• 2.3 Improved radial tires
• 2.4 Chemical detection

3 Public safety

• 3.1 Video enhancing and analysis systems
• 3.2 Fire-resistant reinforcement
• 3.3 Firefighting equipment

4 Consumer, home, and recreation

• 4.1 Temper foam
• 4.2 Enriched baby food
• 4.3 Portable cordless vacuums
• 4.4 Freeze drying

5 Environmental and agricultural resources

• 5.1 Water purification
• 5.2 Solar energy
• 5.3 Pollution remediation

6 Computer technology

• 6.1 Structural analysis software
• 6.2 Remotely controlled ovens
• 6.3 NASA Visualization Explorer
• 6.4 Space Race Blastoff

7 Industrial productivity

• 7.1 Powdered lubricants
• 7.2 Improved mine safety
• 7.3 Food safety

I'd say space exploration has had many benefits.

Whether or not this counts as an ethically positive enterprise i'll leave to you.

 

[Desert Snake]

Well then I don't think u really read where I explained my points, because then u would get it (although u may not agree, at least u would know where im coming from)

No, think I know where your coming from but I don't agree with your opinion on it, at all.

 

[YmirGF]

So u have a right to an opinion but I don't?

It is always helpful to have ones opinions grounded in reality. Failure to do so can be, well, problematic.

 

[Shuddhasattva]

Y'all fundies won't feel that way when you figure out you can build churches in space too.

 

[YmirGF]

Y'all fundies won't feel that way when you figure out you can build churches in space too.

Heaven forbid. Don't we have anti-pollution laws that cover this?

 

[Kilgore Trout]

It's probably not the most ethical thing for humans to spread across the universe as long as members of our species are still this poor at formulating cogent arguments.

 

[Falvlun]

ok i will tell my reasons. first, god put us on earth because he wanted us to be here. he designed it specifically for us and even died right here on this planet to save us its inhabitants. oall other nearby planets are not in any way suited for human life.
i believe that space is a place that god created for himself to enjoy personally. if it was not for this purpose, why would it need to be so big? he could have put whichever planets that contained life much closer together while still keeping them sufficiently apart so that their gravity does not interfere with their movements. also why would there be uninhabited planets revolving around suns whose heat has no purpose? there is no reason for them to exist other that for god's enjoyment. and theyre not for our enjoyment, because we obviously cant get to them. were not even anywhere near advanced enough to go to the moon (the whole thing was faked).
last, space is, as i believe, a vast, perfect, uncorrupted place. the earth is the only panet that is corrupted by sin (unless the aliens are sinful beings too). so for what reason should we (or the aliens, for that matter) go into space, corrupting this beautiful piece of perfection with our evil nature?

This gives your reasons for thinking that God might not like us going into space (that's a whole lotta ifs you got in there, buddy!), but they give no reason for us to think that it is unethical.

What do you think that ethics is?

Ethics isn't really about whether something ****** God off or not. That's religion.

 

[Harrytic]

@harrytic: good point, i never thought of the tower of babel that way.
but then if u think the bible says that space travel is wrong, why do u think that god is ok with it?

I do beleive that God likes to play cruel games with mankind. So the whole changing of the language thing could just be a cruel joke. The fact that God allows us to visit outer space now would strongly indicate that. You say that God allows sin to happen every day. Yes, true, but if he was so upset about that tower being built that he mixed up everybody's langauges, then don't you think he would be a lot more angry at the fact we're travelling into outer space? The tower would be nothing compared to space ships! We really ARE encroaching on God's domain now!

I am not one who believes the bible to be infallible. Many writings are simply the writer's outlook and the way they see God, which may or may not be right. We have to do our best to make that judgement call ourselves. It is also possible that some of the stories we read and take as literal history because they are told in the Hebrew texts, may in fact be fictional. Perhaps a story to entertain or to teach morals, like Jesus did with his parables.

god created the other planets for several reasons. it says in genesis that the heavenly bodies were created for signs (thus astrology is a valid practice).

Agreed

also i believe in extraterrestrial life, so aliens need a place to live too. but then the planets, just like everything else, were ultimately created for god's enjoyment.

Quite possibly. Which is further evidence the the Tower of Babel story could well be a myth and really it makes more sense to see it as such, but there is no escaping the fact that God has a bit of a mean streak in him and likes to toy with his creations. After all, as you said we were created for his enjoyment.

 

[Twilight Hue]

:faint:

Here's a list on Wikipedia of technologies invented by NASA for the space program and is now in common use

NASA spin-off technologies - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia



I'd say space exploration has had many benefits.

Whether or not this counts as an ethically positive enterprise i'll leave to you.

I agree. Although it may not occur for generations, what is done now can pave the way in the benefit of resource gathering and even habitation off the planet.