Members' Dialogue: Exploration Debate?

(From The Planetary Report, vol. 15, no. 3, May/June 1995, p. 3)

Is the drive to explore genetic, something hardwired into humans, or is it merely social software, something that comes and goes from culture to culture and from time to time? This question has particular significance with regard to space exploration.

Carl Sagan and others on the genetic side of the debate tell us that the human expansion into space is inevitable, a part of the natural evolution of the universe. Arizona State University historian Stephen Pyne points out that this approach can lead to complacency, absolving us from the necessity of making real-world, real-time decisions to actually make it happen. Like most cultures throughout history, our society may restrict or even eliminate geographic exploration from its values set. The 15th-century Confucians did exactly that, effectively erasing the knowledge of an outside world from the collective consciousness of the Chinese people.

Equally disturbing is the lack of urgency on the part of Sagan and others who promote the "exploration is in our genes" theory. Canadian anthropologist Charles Laughlin maintains that there is only a limited time during which we can effectively get the space expansion under way. As earthly problems mount, we may soon lack the strength and resources to move into this new frontier. If we're really serious about space exploration, then we must make it happen soon. Pyne maintains that the urge to explore is not genetic at all but instead is part of the cultural heritage of the West. Regardless, the "self-evident" genetic approach has made us lazy and ineffective in the pro-space arguments. Let's debate this issue properly before space exploration is relegated to the history books!

--Tom Harris, Kanata, Ontario, Canada

Copyright 1995 by The Planetary Society

Copyright (c) 1995, 1996, 1997 The Planetary Society. All rights reserved.

Last Updated: 07.19.96