I recently watched the documentary "In the Shadow of the Moon". What it made me realize was that we all need to reconsider the reasoning behind space travel.
I think the general consensus is the reason we go to space is for science. It's all about experiments and tests, and exceptionally nerdy people going up in laboratories. What I think most people and scientists realize, and they don't want to admit, is that people are not necessary for doing science in space. The fundamental truth is that what is true on earth, is true everywhere else, so no real discoveries really need to happen anywhere else.
A few scientists can get genuinely excited about the space program. But a few scientist being excited really only amounts to the current space program. Which is a dying shuttle, a space laboratory, and a few robots to mars...
Why not go to space for the simple reason of going to space? I don't think we need a really "good" reason to go. If we needed a good reason to go, I would argue with you to justify 50% of the things you do regularly.
I think it is nearly time for space to be handed over to the artist. The scientist had a good try at it, but I think it is our turn. Why haven't there been any artists on the Space Station? It's not like their actually curing cancer up there or anything.
Kyler
2 comments:
An interesting idea, considering how space is such a romanticized notion. But Kyler, when did you stop considering yourself a scientist?
I actually realized this when writing the post, and I think this post is slightly inaccurate in how I am portraying myself.
I still feel a deep connection with sciences and math, and am still genuinely interested in learning and discovering. I'm definitely still the nerdiest and most scientific person I know at art school. But I don't think that I can truthfully call myself a scientist. I tend to slab together whatever I need to, to figure out the truth, or solve a problem, and I don't feel the need to use the necessary scientific rigor to fully support all of my knowledge.
I really want to visualize how everything works, but I'm much less interested in knowing all of the specific math and numbers in detail.
Though to be fair, for some reason I still have trouble considering myself an "artist" for various similar, but completely different reasons.
I think I'm best off not specifying which I am.
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