As humans continue to degrade and destroy our planet's resources,
leading to predictions of total ecological collapse, some (such as the
entrepreneur Elon Musk) now suggest that a human colony elsewhere may be
our species' best hope for survival.
Adam Morton examines extra-terrestrial colonization plans with a
critical eye. He makes a strong case for colonization - just not by
human beings. Humans live relatively short lives and, to survive,
require large amounts of food and water, very specific climatic
conditions and an oxygen-rich atmosphere. We can create colonists that
have none of these shortcomings.
Reflecting compassionately on the nature of existence, Morton argues
that we should treat the end of the human race in the same way that we
treat our own deaths: as something sad but ultimately inevitable. The
earth will perish one day, and, in the end, we should be concerned more
with securing the future of intelligent beings than with the
preservation of our species, which represents but a nanosecond in the
history of our solar system.