Mike Combs wrote:
wrote in message
ups.com...
John Ordover claims that, "Exploration is only done for a profit
motive."

John might be incorrect where individuals and groups up to a certain
size
are concerned, but I think he may be thinking more about societies
and
nations.

Perhaps, but I've never seen him add that qualifier.


To state it more specificially: No society, and certainly no nation,
has
ever engaged in a large-scale colonization effort in a new frontier
motivated soley by the individual urge to explore for curiousity's
sake.

I'm not so sure about that. I can see some monarchies exploring
motivated solely by the monarch's (and others') curiosity. And there
have been colonization efforts motivated at least *partly* by the urge
to explore for curiousity's sake. Money has not been the only
motivator--there have been other strong motivations, with curiosity
among these.


Anytime a discussion comes up regarding space exploration, someone
is
bound to ask, "What's the point? There's no economic justification
that
I can see." Or something along those lines.

Some of us think that's a problem of the limited vision of the
nay-sayer,
rather than a problem of a lack of economic opportunities beyond the
Earth.

We agree here. The *long term* economic opportunities beyond Earth
dwarf anything back on the *auld sod*. Money would not be my main
motive for space exploration, but I'm not blind to the economic
possibilities.


Perhaps that's yet another
good reason for me to get off this planet and explore what's out
there.


The unfortunate problem you face is that in the current (and
forseeable)
situation, you will require subsidization to the tune of billlions to
get to
do what you want. You'll find that most people are not willing to
hand over
vast sums of money to help you satisfy your itch to explore. On the
other
hand, people occasionally hand over vast sums of money when there's a
prospect of them getting even more back later on. The trick is to
combine
the two, and that's where most of my attention is directed.

Perhaps you are right. However, I note that people just handed billions
in taxes for the new War on Iraq. How exactly has that war improved the
life of the average American? Sure, Halliburton has profited, but how
so for the typical taxpayer? My point is that taxpayers routinely
finance ventures that bring them no immediate profit (or no likely
profit *ever*).

I cannot deny my curiosity. Yet my curiosity is anything but weak.
It
is powerful enough to rank right next to my need for food, water,
and
life itself.

Please forgive me, but I don't take this assertion very seriously.

That is your right, but believe me, I am serious. That's how *intense*
my drive to explore really is. Perhaps you simply can't understand, but
that's the way it is for me.

How many
starving 3rd-worlders are intensely interested in the exploration of
Mars?
For them, it's a tremendous irrelevancy (just ask them).

Most 3rd-worlders are not starving, and in my experience, one need not
be some middle-class white male westerner to be fascinated by other
worlds. For many third worlders (as first worlders), religion,
mysticism, and myth speak to their sense of wonder. I'm sure that many
would jump to the chance of going to Mars. Just because The Gambia
doesn't currently have an active space exploration program does not
mean Gambians lack a fascination with the unknown.

The thought to
explore the universe only comes to people who aren't worrying about
where
their next meal is coming from.

If you're exploring the Amazon and find that your food pack has rotted
out, you can't exactly drop by the nearest 7/11. But people *have*
explored the Amazon -- at the risk of life and limb. Many times, they
have died while doing so. Explorers have been known to embark on risky
adventures on which they really *don't* know where their next meal will
come from. But they don't "worry" about it; they find a way. If they
were chronic worriers, they probably wouldn't have embarked upon the
expedition in the first place. Maybe that's part of the big difference
in mentality I'm talking about.