Not likely to find anywhere near enough to Earth and habitable enough to be worth colonizing. And should we colonize the galaxy anyway? What about other ETs and other life forms?
We worry about ETs invading Earth. Surely we should worry just as much about humans invading planets occupied by ETs?
Or are humans privileged species that have the right to invade everyone else in our galaxy - but nobody else has the right to invade Earth?
If so why? What makes it right if humans do it?
And - would humans be good for the galaxy? Could a galaxy filled with hundreds of billions of trillions of humans be peaceful, or even remain habitable for long? Bearing in mind that by then we'd probably all have self replicating machines and many other technologies capable of reshaping entire planets and changing the structure of the galaxy itself.
Exploring, done with care, is probably just fine, even interstellar exploration with a strict "prime directive" and care not to set up colonies anywhere without careful thought for possible long term consequences. Escaping an imminent disaster to Earth also surely fine - that's not going to end up filling the galaxy with humans. But colonization - I'm not sure. Hard to see it working with humans as we are now. We probably have to change, become much more peaceful, far sighted etc before we can contemplate it safely.
We worry about ETs invading Earth. Surely we should worry just as much about humans invading planets occupied by ETs?
Or are humans privileged species that have the right to invade everyone else in our galaxy - but nobody else has the right to invade Earth?
If so why? What makes it right if humans do it?
And - would humans be good for the galaxy? Could a galaxy filled with hundreds of billions of trillions of humans be peaceful, or even remain habitable for long? Bearing in mind that by then we'd probably all have self replicating machines and many other technologies capable of reshaping entire planets and changing the structure of the galaxy itself.
Exploring, done with care, is probably just fine, even interstellar exploration with a strict "prime directive" and care not to set up colonies anywhere without careful thought for possible long term consequences. Escaping an imminent disaster to Earth also surely fine - that's not going to end up filling the galaxy with humans. But colonization - I'm not sure. Hard to see it working with humans as we are now. We probably have to change, become much more peaceful, far sighted etc before we can contemplate it safely.
About the Author
Robert Walker
Writer of articles on Mars and Space issues - Software Developer of Tune Smithy, Bounce Metronome etc.Studied at Wolfson College, Oxford
Lives in Isle of Mull
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