I read that space.com article earlier. Good read. Valid points. Then I read through some of the slashdot responses. Sweet Zombie Jesus I could go on about the infancy of the human race but I won't. Why explore? Because it's fucking there. Why do anything? Why wake up in the morning? Why divert a good chunk of your budget into killing your fellow man?

I'm guilty. Guilty of being human. We react. That's what we do. Do I honestly give a damn about the homeless? No. Will I, if I find myself on the streets? You're damn right I would. Same goes for natural disasters, diseases, wars, you name it. The point is, we don't give a rat's ass until something happens.

One of the comments on slashdot that was so eloquoently put was: "fuck space". Sure. Keep the military budget as bloated as it is. Fix the problems at home. End world hunger and all that. Win that Nobel. It's all for naught anyways.

One errant chunk of space rock goes undetected cause we couldn't be bothered with gazing skywards will take care of that. Although I'll be long dead if it happens, it would be comforting to know we're a 2 planet species, or beyond...

The whole reason for our existence is to accrue knowledge. Whether it be about the cosmos, videogames, life, love, what have you. It would be counterproductive to have that snuffed out in the short period of time we've existed.

I guess the universe truly is devoid of intelligent life. Sigh. Sorry about the rant. This stuff just really bugs me. I swear I grew up in the wrong decade.