The only way to save ourselves is to look up
Since the dawn of time, humans have been fighting each other for resources.
Resources have literally been the catalyst of pretty much all wars and the race to accumulate more than your neighbor has created a global culture of greed, of haves and have nots, that has divided our planet and created the entire climate and political shitstorm that we’re facing now — and all these bear the question: can we fix most or even all these issues?
I truly believe the answer is a resounding “YES” and it has to do with abundance.
An abundance of resources and opportunities.
One of the ways to create an abundance of resources is to look where we have not done so — space.
Space has long been taunted as the ultimate answer to pretty much every problem —and I wholeheartedly agree; do you remember the space race?
Many of the things we use today are a result of the innovations of the space race: Consumer products like wireless headsets, LED lighting, portable cordless vacuums, freeze-dried foods, memory foam, scratch-resistant eyeglass lenses + many other familiar products have all benefited from space technology research and development.
Many have accused Richard Branson and Jeff Bezos of spending too much to solve problems no one has (taking a stroll at the edge of space) and not spending enough to solve problems here, on Earth.
However, great leaps in culture and technology take place in only two settings: either in the face of great danger (wars, pandemics, zombie apocalypse, or alien invasion) or in times of prolonged peace that foster an ego race.
One must have a positive outcome due to the pressure of time, while the other can have a long-lasting impact due to the legacy of the one that won. (the jury is still out on that though).
Which takes us back to the abundance of resources—this can be accomplished in our lifetime by embracing and actively promoting space mining.
Even though many have failed (for now) to live up to the promise or to make tangible progress, space mining and space, in general, are the only way forward.
Obviously, AI will play a crucial role in our quest to conquer space. In this time and age in which we’re no longer driving even driving our cars (thank you Elon), driving our spacecraft will be (primarily) a task for our digital counterparts.
We are now living in the best of times, even if at times it doesn’t seem to be real: we have a long-lasting global peace, we’re more educated than ever and opportunities for most of us are abundant.
So the time has come to focus our minds not only on how to fix the problems that we ourselves caused but on how to create abundance for everyone.
And in order to do that, we need to look to the stars.
Thank you for taking the time to read this article — if you’ve learned something from it, I’d appreciate it if you would share it with your peers.
I’m a technologist and storyteller, with a strong focus on the future. My writings include bits and pieces about #DeFi, #Space, #iGaming, #Energy and #Robotics. If you want to keep in touch, feel free to add me on LinkedIn.
#climatechange #sustainability #culture #opportunities #abundance #space
