700 new planets foundFollow

Dude, most of the robotic and AI tech comes from Japan. They know what the deal is already...

False, but most of the things that are "more necessary" would also be useful in large-scale manned spaceflight.

Maybe you're being a bit obscure with your point, but the human race can survive just fine with the technology we have today (far less in fact). Right up until the moment when a big bright light appears in the sky and wipes us all out (or some other global calamity strikes). You're confusing "comfort of existence" with "species survival" I think. Or you're speculating about other things which "might" happen, I suppose.

The *only* thing that prevents that eventual and inevitable death of our species is if we can master manned spaceflight and leave our planet at some point. Technically, we need to eventually be able to travel to other solar systems as well (since the Sun's not going to survive eternally either). And even more technically, we may have to travel to other galaxies (ours may not survive "forever" either), but that's way farther out, and in any case, those rely on first mastering manned spaceflight.

We can speculate about other things which might wipe us out, but the one thing we know absolutely will is failing to ever send people into space and colonize other worlds. Thus, there is "nothing more necessary than manned spaceflight" for long term species survival. Unless you can list off something which is more necessary? Something which we know for 100% will kill us as a species if we don't do? Cause I can't think of any.

The "inevitable" on that is only true on the time scale of the Sun's expansion.

The survival of humanity to that point is entirely possible without manned spaceflight, even with the assumption that global catastrophes will occur that would wipe out an insufficiently shielded ecosystem.

Really, the first step is a culture that's capable of building and willing to live within megastructures (NOTE: I'm talking structures on the order of tens of thousands of cubic miles in volume at a minimum). Once you have that down, multi-generational manned spaceflight becomes a lot less problematic, which may be necessary if there isn't any means of going faster than light.

To be honest, though, once you're building structures on that scale, you have the engineering know-how available to probably just pilot the Earth out of its present orbit once problems occur.

Edited, Jul 27th 2010 10:59pm by MDenham

Well, someone's been playing Sim City 2000.

Civ 4, surely.

you should. It's pretty awesome.

Or wait for Civ5.

Kavekk, you will love Civ4. I think you can get it, with all the expansions, for like a tenner.

Civ 5 will be amazing, but it won't come out for another year or so.

I heard that they are taking religion out of Civ5.

How am I supposed to pay for my expansion/war now? :(

I think religion is the old fashioned way.

It also validates several generations of science fiction writers who have gone on the presumption that there are habitable, Earth-like planets out there, just waiting to have stories written about them.

I've actually been playing the hell out of Civ 4 for the last week and a half. I'm not terribly good at it, but I still love it.

Civ 5 will be freaking awesome. Just another reason why September can't get here fast enough.

I just wish I could beat Rogue. I loved that game.