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Re: [FT universe] was [URL] New Star and Campaign Maps

From: agoodall@s... (Allan Goodall)
Date: Wed, 16 Sep 1998 02:29:53 GMT
Subject: Re: [FT universe] was [URL] New Star and Campaign Maps

On Wed, 16 Sep 1998 09:01:36 +1000, Beth Fulton
<beth.fulton@marine.csiro.au>
wrote:

>	I'd beg to differ here. I can think of a reason, it isn't
particularly
>logical but that's never stopped humanity before. 
>What drove man to explore at all? Barring religious arguments, why did
man
>ever colonise all of this earth? Basically, why does the little bear
climb
>the hill? Just to see what's there (usually).

Actually, one word: wealth. That's what's prompted the vast majority of
exploration during mankind's term on Earth. Whether it was population
pressures moving indigenous people out to more sparse land (from ancient
times
to the more recent settling of Canada, Australia, and the USA) to
hunting for
gold in the New World. 

The Vikings were looking for new land to settle (and/or people to
plunder).
Columbus was looking for a more profitable sea route to China based on a
map
that showed the world was round (right idea; wrong measurements). Almost
all
of the exploration of the Americas was for profit. And not always for
obvious
profit, either. Europe, for instance, was running into a wood crisis in
the
16th through 18th centuries, a crisis that was alleviated by the vast
tracts
of untouched North American wilderness. Rubber was a big commodity item
from
the South Pacific. 

It's only been fairly recently that man has had the luxury of exploring
for
exploration's sake. And most of the time that exploration was done by
rich men
who were either bored or after fame (or the occasional scientist,
however
Scott didn't die on the Antarctic for science and Hillary and Tensing
didn't
conquer Everest for science).

>	I wouldn't say that the earliest explorers in the Americas or
Australia
>were being pushed out because they'd used up all their resources or
because
>they were over populated. Ok some of them, may be a lot of them, had at
>least some desire for mineral wealth or land or wanted to increase the
>stature of their ruler's empire (etc), but I wouldn't say that was the
only
>reason they went.

Actually, that WAS the only reason most of them went. That was the only
reason
the CREW'S went. No average sailor was going to risk his life for such
noble
causes. Wealth was in the forefront of most men's minds. I am not sure
about
Cabot, but Columbus, DeGama (sp?), almost all the Spanish and Portuguese
explorers, and the British Northwest Passage explorers were all in it
for the
money.

You do have a very good point: much of modern day exploration, including
the
deep sea, and space, has been for scientific reasons, "because it's
there", or
even one-upmanship. Those reasons don't result in people colonizing a
planet.
They may result in something WORTH finding on other planets, but they
aren't
reasons to fund multi-trillion dollar colonizing efforts. 

There has to be an economic reason to go to the stars. Running out of
room
here is one of them. Cheap star travel and access to earth-like planets
get
you colonizing a far off planet than an asteroid in our own
neighbourhood. 

None of this, even if star travel was discovered tomorrow, will happen
within
100 years, though. 

Allan Goodall	       agoodall@sympatico.ca

"We come into the world and take our chances
 Fate is just the weight of circumstances
 That's the way that Lady Luck dances
 Roll the bones." - N. Peart


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