First of all, I want to say that anything here is my personal opinion only and you are more than welcome to ignore every bit of it.

!!First Impressions

I was immediately engaged with this idea. The thought of exploring evolutionary changes over vast distances and time is fantastic. I've done some reading about how species spread over the planet and how evolutionary forces come to play...and I've done some personal speculation of my own.

!!My thoughts on evolutionary spread

It seems to me that it is in the genetic coding of every living thing on this planet to "go forth and multiply"..."to cover the earth." This leads to some interesting conflicts, but also explains why most species tend to aggressively attempt to colonize every square inch of real estate that they can occupy. This might be a condition of life in general, or it might be specific to certain evolutionary rules that happened to dominate here.

The natural conclusion to this, I think, is a strong need for the species of earth to find a way to break their planetary bounds and spread. In other words, we can take as a pattern for colonizing the universe the methods used to colonize this planet, both by humans and other species of plants and animals (and viruses and bacteria for that matter).

Butterflies use the wind to spread. When a butterfly gets blown to a new location, the new place might be habitable, or it might not. If it is habitable, the butterfly survives to start a new generation. Subsequent generations will do the same. Random mutations in the population will improve or hinder the butterfly's ability to survive either in the location of its birth, or a place it may get blown to. So movement and adaptation occur hand in hand.

Early humans did the same thing, but in a slightly different way. A few individuals got restless, or food became less plentiful, and some moved on. Others got lost, either while traveling on foot, or by boat. The process began slowly because the relative size of the population was small. As populations increased, I think, the restlessness did not diminish and explorers and traders came into existence. I think that a certain element of our population has to look off planet because even though the unpopulated spaces on earth are all gone, the restlessness, the need for open space does not go away. (Another solution to the open space issue is population control, but I think earthlings are genetically opposed to that.)

!!How this translates to space exploration

Take the dandylion. When the wind blows, it casts its seeds. Some are going to land where other dandylions are flourishing already. Others are going to be taken into virgin space. Neither the parent nor the siblings will know for sure, neither do they care at the beginning of the journey.

In other words, as soon as any technology is available, no matter how primitive, someone is going to jump on it with the expectation that the destination is better than the starting place, or just for the ride. And early explorers aren't going to be as particular about knowing an awful lot about where they are going or what they will find. It a way, it may be like someone dying of cancer: in the name of science, they will try anything; it may not help, but it may help future generations of cancer sufferers. In terms of space exploration, I think that any group with the means and the philosophical bent (i.e., they see some advantage to it), will attempt it.

If the technology exists, I'm going. Will technology be better for the children of earth in 20 years, 200 years, 2000 years? Of course! But my children will already be in space, and that will give them some advantage over the earth-bound generations leaving for space later on.

-- AnnelieseFox - 24 Jul 2004

!!CM's response to Anneliese's musings

I wasn't sure if it was okay to post here, but I figured, what the hey, you can always delete it Anneliese!

I think this is great stuff. This is much along the lines of my initial musing as well. There are members of our species that are always restless, always looking for the next new thing, always looking for the unknown, always willing to try something untested. Scientists look for new medical cures and new means to explain our world. Sportsmen/adventures look for larger and great challengs, to climb Everest, to trek to the South Pole, to crawl through subterranean passages to see what is there. Teachers look for new ways to connect to students. Architects search for new and demanding designs. On and on the examples come and go. An accomplished challenge is soon put in the record books and a new one is found. Space is just another boundary to push, and whether it happens in 20 years, 200 years, or 2000 years, eventually someone will go (assuming we don't nuke ourselves).

In going to the stars, instead of wishfully thinking about zooming from star to star like Star Trek or Star Wars, we have to be realistic about the time and the distances. Once we come to terms with the astronomical timeframe, anything is possible. In looking through our evolutional history, time was on our side. It took us 5 million years to get where we are now, so let's use the next 5 million years to cross the stars and establish a new Humanity somewhere else...

Humans have always evolved. We are always evolving. We WILL always evolve. It's time for science to harness that evolution on the cosmic scale and use it to our advantage. CmAmidon - 28 Sep 2004

!!AF's response

I appreciate your comments! I believe we see things pretty similarly here. By adding your voice, we help others also understand our ideas.

p.s. If I didn't want you posting here, I'd protect the page...you did know that you can write protect your pages to keep others from editing them...just more stuff to learn, I guess!