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Colgate University Panel Debates Value of Space Exploration; Panelists Available for Comment

Posted on: Saturday, 13 December 2003, 06:00 CST

HAMILTON, N.Y., Nov. 24 (AScribe Newswire) -- Colgate University faculty members debated the value of space exploration at a campus discussion, with some saying the ethical, social, economic, and practical consequences of exploring life on other planets outweigh any potential benefits.

Anthony Aveni, Russell B. Colgate Professor of astronomy and anthropology; Rob Figueroa, visiting assistant professor of philosophy and religion; Jay Mandle, W. Bradford Wiley Professor of economics; and Bob McVaugh, associate professor of art and art history, were panelists for an informal dialogue about space exploration and colonization.

The event, sponsored by the Space Exploration Society, was held in Persson Auditorium on Wednesday, Nov. 19.

Aveni questioned whether all cultures necessarily want space exploration. At this point, it is not necessarily a personal desire to explore, he said, but rather a race for cultures to prove themselves technologically.

"The whole persona aspect since the space age has disintegrated," he said.

"Terraforming" Mars, the process of altering the landscape and environment specifically to support life, has ethical implications, he argued.

Mars can't be viewed as a "spare planet, like a spare tire," he said. If we could create a sustainable biosphere on Mars, something which is seemingly impossible, then we could reconsider the negative consequences of space exploration, Aveni said.

Figueroa viewed space exploration from a myriad of ethical standpoints, ultimately concluding that the negative consequences of space exploration are too great.

Dubbed the "Star Trek Scenario," Figueroa argued that we must reach a "moral apex," or a world void of poverty, racism, and social and environmental concerns, before exploring space. Humanity, he says, is not yet at that point.

He said America should channel its money elsewhere. Space exploration is "the most exemplified form of denial the human race has ever (seen)."

McVaugh saw space exploration as a byproduct of utopianism.

"This is where our utopian visions are nurtured. There is a sense we are . manipulating the globe," he said.

However, he said that humanity should see space exploration as a nugget of hope. Otherwise, humans lose a "creative outlet."

"What happens to the human spirit if there isn't room to pray on a utopian sense? The role of space exploration, the ideal, is as that place where we can still retain the possibility of creating a small community which may transcend some of the physical and social problems that seem to be more and more beyond our control," he said.

Mandle considered the economic implications of space exploration. For Americans, he said, space exploration is part of a greater need to be unilateralist. The only way exploration could work is if it was part of a collaborative effort among nations, he said.

In 50 years, other countries will be just as technologically advanced as America, and countries could pool their resources, Mandle said. However, he doubted that Americans would wait for such a multilateral initiative.

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