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... the continual cycle of war and peace until we finally destroy ourselves. Perhaps we are already beginning to see such a pattern emerging. Another argument against space exploration is that it is a terrifying and dangerous objective. Of course this is undoubtedly correct, but it is perhaps none more so than those pre-renaissance explorers faced at the hands of the seas. Facing their fears was absolutely key to the development of the world that followed.
Exploration directly resulted in a movement from one age of history to another, and so it will again. The benefits will not of course be restricted to science, the arts and social ideals, for example other answers could be found that are more philosophical in nature. There is no question that studies of life and our place in the universe can not be settled while we remain on the Earth. If they can be resolved than the answer undoubtedly lies out 'there's ome where. This could of course bring up another possible argument against space exploration; there are questions of faith and religion that have been raised against the exploration of space. To this I would answer that surely faith can only be worthwhile if it can live in the face of truth.
Let us now return to the prospects for the revolution in science that would be achieved by exploring space. Almost immediately the sciences of astronomy, physics and chemistry will all be advanced with initial discoveries resulting from new experimentation possibilities with the widespread availability of vacuums and microgravity. Talking of gravity will we finally be able to understand this mystery by escaping it and studying it from space, who knows, but it is a tantalizing idea. The sciences involved in earth observation including meteorology will probably be improved once man can get out there and observe himself, rather that having satellites doing the work.
So often we have found that man can do it better when he is there first hand. We can see the possibilities of new research conditions, of the potential for industry and commerce but the greatest possibilities are the unknown. We can speculate of the possibility of finding new substances to utilize, but the really massive advantages will be gained from possibilities that we have simply not even thought of, because they will be completely new concepts to us. It will be just as it was for Columbus, when he left in search of spices he never dreamed of what he was to make possible, such as the discovery and utilization's of oil, a totally new concept that would revolutionize the world. It didn't happen immediately but if he had not gone there who knows how long it would have set the human race back. It will be the same for the pioneers of space exploration.
As for understanding space itself, exploration is crucial to knowledge and we cannot hope to understand the universe until we have been there and widely explored the vast expanses, encountering the known and the unknown. It is impossible to try and understand the behavior of space while we sit on just one planet. All this does not mean, of course, that there will be no mystery left in the universe, just as all our scientific discoveries have led us to new, more wonderful mysteries, so will the crossing of space. Our understanding of space now makes it a far more mysterious place then it was generations ago, and so it will remain. The increased knowledge and understanding that exploring space will bring, will in turn bring far more mysteries and they will not all be solved until we have explored and understood the entire universe. That, rest assured, will not be happening anytime soon!
Well firstly we must remember the odds of encountering other intelligence. It is almost certain that there are many species of intelligent life in the universe. There is, however, also a vast amount of space containing an immeasurable number of objects between us. Even if they are highly advanced the amount to be explored is huge, imagine trying to explore every grain of sand on a beach before finding that little blue / green one on the far side!
With that said it can be argued that it is entirely possible we have already been visited, the earth has existed for 6 billion years and recorded history goes back only a few thousand, with many gaps in the records. Perhaps the Earth was noted as a possibility and one day they will return to see how life has progressed, it would be very vain of us to suggest that given all the planets out there, they would keep a special eye on us! Ultimately I believe there is probably little danger of encountering a hostile race. If we were to encounter a species with technology similar to our own there would be a remote possibility, but here we have just reduced already meaningless odds by a chance of a blink of an eye in the total existence of a civilization. In actual fact the likelihood is that, as far as the distant foreseeable future goes, if we encounter another intelligent life form, it will probably find us and is therefore likely to be considerably more advanced than we are, this is of course most peoples fear but... If we try and see past science fiction, for as entertaining as it is, it is only fiction, any civilization that reaches an advanced level of technology must also have reached an advanced level of social standards, of morals and ethics, of compassion and tolerance.
For if they hadn't they would surely have destroyed themselves long ago with their advanced technological weaponry. There is of course no certainty in this, and many others will argue just as strongly for the possibilities of the natural advanced state of evil. The overriding feeling for me, however, is that whatever their intentions, should we meet in the first place, the idea that we should bury our heads in the sand and hope they leave us alone does not seem a very pragmatic suggestion. In conclusion it seems to me that it is not only beneficial for us to explore space, but it is absolutely essential for our development and even our survival. Whether the act be good or evil depends on the end. The "human reason" pronounces judgment concerning the character of the end, it is, therefore, the law for action.
Human acts, however, are meritorious in so far as they promote the purpose of God and his honor. By repeating a good action man acquires a moral habit or a quality which enables him to do the good gladly and easily. This is true, however, only of the intellectual and moral virtues, which Thomas Aquinas treats after the mariner of Aristotle; the theological virtues are imparted by God to man as a " disposition, " from which the acts here proceed, but while they strengthen, they do not form it. The " disposition " of evil is the opposite alternative. An act becomes evil through deviation from the reason and the divine moral law.
Therefore, sin involves two factors: its substance or matter is lust; in form, however, it is deviation from the divine law. Sin has its origin in the will, which decides, against the reason, for a changeable good. " Since, however, the will also moves the other powers of man, sin has its seat in these too. By choosing such a lower good as end, the will is misled by self-love, so that this works as cause in every sin. God is not the cause of sin, since, on the contrary, he draws all things to himself.
The devil is not directly the cause of sin, but he incites by working on the imagination and the sensuous impulse of man, as men or things may also do. Sin is original. Adam's first sin passes upon himself and all the succeeding race; because he is the head of the human race and "by virtue of procreation human nature is transmitted and along with nature its infection. " The powers of generation are, therefore, designated especially as "infected. " The thought is involved here by the fact that Thomas, like the other to the whole, he is just: in so far as he thereby does away with misery, he is merciful. In every work of God both justice and mercy are united and, indeed, his justice always presupposes his mercy, since he owes no one anything and gives more bountifully than is due. As God rules in the world, the "plan of the order of things" preexists in him; i. e. , his providence and the exercise of it in his government are what condition as cause everything which comes to pass in the world.
Hence follows predestination: from eternity some are destined to eternal life, while as concerns others "he permits some to fall short of that end. " Reprobation, however, is more than mere foreknowledge; it is the "will of permitting anyone to fall into sin and incur the penalty of condemnation for sin. " The effect of predestination is grace. Since God is the first cause of everything, he is the cause of even the free acts of men through predestination. Determinism is deeply grounded in the system of Thomas; things with their source of becoming in God are ordered from eternity as means for the realization of his end in himself. On moral grounds Thomas advocates freedom energetically; but, with his premises, he can have in mind only the psychological form of self-motivation.
Nothing in the world is accidental or free, although it may appear so in reference to the proximate cause. From this point of view miracles become necessary in themselves and are to be considered merely as inexplicable to man. From the point of view of the first cause all is unchangeable; although from the limited point of view of the secondary cause miracles may be spoken of. In his doctrine of the Trinity Thomas starts from the Augustinian system.
Since God has only the functions of thinking and willing, only two processions can be asserted from the Father. But these establish definite relations of the persons of the Trinity one to another. The relations must be conceived as real and not as merely ideal; for, as with creatures relations arise through certain accidents, since in God there is no accident but all is substance, it follows that " the relation really existing in God is the same as the essence according to the thing. " From another side, however, the relations as real must be really distinguished one from another. Therefore, three persons are to be affirmed in God. Man stands opposite to God; he consists of soul and body. The " intellectual soul" consists of intellect and will.
Furthermore the soul is the absolutely indivisible form of man; it is immaterial substance, but not one and the same in all men. Work Cite: Henry Kendall November 1992 World Scientists' Warning To Humanity Edward T. Babinski The Bible DOES Say That the Earth Does Not Move DavidGrinspoon Is Mars Ours? The logistics and ethics of colonizing the red planet. Jan. 7, 2004 Jeff Foust Seeking a rationale for human space exploration February 9, 2004 Ryder W.
Miller Astroenvironmentalism: The Case for Space Exploration As An Environmental Issue San Francisco, USA Disch, T. M. (Ed. ). (1971). The ruins of earth: An anthology of stories of the immediate future. New York: Putnam Robert C. Cowen Space exploration - humanity's endeavor.
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Research essay sample on Point Of View Space Exploration
