Stephen Hawking just hit the proverbial nail squarely on the head. Hawking’s recent statements regarding the need to dedicate more resources to space travel and exploration could not have come at a more relevant time.
Global warming, dwindling oil supplies, economic turmoil and practically every other popular world problem have their roots solidly in one single issue, explosive population growth. The world has gone from an estimated 2.5 billion in 1950 to 6.6 billion today. Amazingly, there were less than 1 billion in 1800.
There are plenty of counter arguments but there is one simple truth. When population exceeds carrying capacity a system will collapse. We are not close to reaching the planets carrying capacity but this kind of growth is not sustainable. The world is only now beginning to see the results of increased competition for resources and that trend will only continue to intensify.
Mr. Hawking’s answer to this problem is the only viable long term solution. We as a planet must dedicate more resources to finding more resources. There’s only one way and that’s up. Carl Sagan often espoused the same views as have countless other progressive thinkers.
There has never been a better time for humanity to look to the stars. We are in an age that can still afford to spend “venture capital”. It will not be this way forever. There will come a time that every patch of ground that we have must be used to feed us. That train is coming.
Until next time, happy blogging.
Megadisclaimer: Take nothing at face value. Everything on this blog is for entertainment purposes. It won’t change the world, or even your opinion in most cases. If you believe everything that you read stop reading now!