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2/07/2003 03:41:00 AM | Timothy Hmmm ... a penny Some more thoughts for Jon on the space shuttle. First, he's right those who think there has not been too much coverage of the disaster have no reason to not keep talking. But seriously, I am skeptical that there is a universal human need to explore. Those who don't explore may be hurt in the long run, but it is really a hard-wired characteristic of all humans? At least, we project a lot of old Western frontier notions onto the idea of space exploration, making me think some of it is 'cultural' or rather, the result of myth-making. (right about the time Europe began its so-called 'age of discovery' China had boats that could fit ten or hundred times as many people. But internal politics in China made it so they recalled all the ships and never became a world power. I think Eunichs were involved in this somehow..) I'm not even sure there's a natural curiousity among many Americans today to learn about others on this world. More likely, there are some extraordinary individuals (in all different types of cultures) who feel the itch to explore, and they can inspire the rest of us. As for me, I'm not big personally on exploration of physical space. I like (maybe too much) my cloistered physical isolation in NYC. I think space journeys CAN tend to inspire us, but that doesn't mean the space launches we are doing now inspire us. We aren't even going back to the moon at this point. I don't think people have been paying attention to space shuttles for quite a while. With the challenger explosion, many people were watching the launch and saw the disaster as it happened. The grief was far more immediate then. Now it is more adopted for many people, I would suspect, though I'm not sure. (Oh, there's so much about Star Trek one could say now, but I'll hold my tongue on Kirk being American, and especially about that sometimes sexist and retro show 'Enterprise.' I'm glad I'm a star wars fan.) perma link |
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