i have a debate coming up and i need some points as to why exploration is NOT worth the cost. maybe some points of the other side so i can form some rebuttals. all types of exploration not just space!!
-
Let's see now - how many billions of $$, and human lives ( !!! ) have been thrown away because some people wanted to see if there was "life" on other planets ???
What a horrific waste of human being and $$, especially when we have many pressing issues right here on earth
What a horrific waste of human being and $$, especially when we have many pressing issues right here on earth
-
Yes, it is worth the cost.
Nearly every large corporation has a research and development department with complex laboratories. They don't have them for fun or academic purposes. They have them because they pay huge returns. These are exploratory operations.
Most exploratory expeditions to new lands around the world paid great dividends to the explorers. Space exploration was not expected to bring great monetary rewards but actually did because of the peripheral effects such as the benefit of satellites and also the inventions and discoveries produced by merely trying to get off the Earth.
Exploration is a vague term and its value can vary greatly depending on what is being explored, the expected cost and the amount of expendable resources available (money, equipment etc.)
"Exploring" is attempting to find out things that are unknown. The values of unknown things are of course, unknown.
► All the benefits of our modern life came from exploration; refrigerators, plastic, penicillin, electronic devices, shipping... even tiny things like a ball point pen at your desk or having pepper at your table.
Was it worth it?
.
Nearly every large corporation has a research and development department with complex laboratories. They don't have them for fun or academic purposes. They have them because they pay huge returns. These are exploratory operations.
Most exploratory expeditions to new lands around the world paid great dividends to the explorers. Space exploration was not expected to bring great monetary rewards but actually did because of the peripheral effects such as the benefit of satellites and also the inventions and discoveries produced by merely trying to get off the Earth.
Exploration is a vague term and its value can vary greatly depending on what is being explored, the expected cost and the amount of expendable resources available (money, equipment etc.)
"Exploring" is attempting to find out things that are unknown. The values of unknown things are of course, unknown.
► All the benefits of our modern life came from exploration; refrigerators, plastic, penicillin, electronic devices, shipping... even tiny things like a ball point pen at your desk or having pepper at your table.
Was it worth it?
.
-
If we look at the whole history of exploration, we can see that it is not only worth the cost, but is actually essential for the future of the human race. What we must also look at is the benefit to the whole of humanity, not just for the short-term gain or loss of individual agencies and corporations. There was outcry in Spain when King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella financed Columbus' trip across the Atlantic because of the outlay. Today we see the benefits to the whole world gained by that speculation. Already, space research and exploration is actually showing a profit on the sums invested by governments in the form of everyday things like Teflon, mobile communications, satellite communications etc. I'm afraid it is unlikely you will find many rebuttal answers on this forum, as most of us are actually scientists or interested in science. There is also a psychological reason for exploration in that it is inherent in Man's nature to want to see over the next hill or round the next mountain, and without it, Mankind would probably stagnate and die of boredom!