Terraforming

To me, it only seems logical that we should move to other planets. Once we're capable, we need to get on it. There's no reason we should just stick to our one planet, that I can really think of. The benefits would be great if we were to go to other places.

I was talking with Chruser recently about this, actually. I was saying, we need to spread our human population out between more than one planet(same with our animals, if possible.) If something catastrophic were to happen to earth, our entire species would be wiped out. If we're split up between a few different places, it would still suck but it wouldn't be the end. Also, with more "bases", we would have more of a chance to eliminate any potential threats(such as meteors and shit like that.)

As for the morality, I don't really see how there would be any problem with it. I mean, if there was some sentient lifeform that we were wiping out, I'd see a possible problem with it(and also possible provoking some problems farther down the road, depending on how intelligent they are.) Wiping out a bunch of bacteria doesn't seem like a big deal to me.

So I say, for cases such as mars and venus where there's not much if any life (I don't know much about the ecosystems of either planet, if they even have ecosystems,) let's terraform, baby!

I agree with you for your reasons of wanting to expand, and even the act of Terraforming itself can teach us things about how our planet formed. The act of colonizing another planet gives us access to other resources that are in short supply on Earth (although Oil wouldn't be one), as well as ensuring the continued survival of the human race by seperating us from being able to be killed all in one location.

I would not have a problem with Terraforming another planet personally after an exhaustive survey to determine if there were any alien lifeform present. I would be opposed to Terraforming over life of any kind though, as I kinda believe outside sources of life should be protected and allowed to continue along their natural path, as they would constitute an Endangered Species of sorts.

Where's Sov? I figured as a Trekkie he'd have been somewhat interested in this thread.

Doesn't the ISS have an evacuation vehicle? Problem solved.

I think the propagation of the human race through space is a natural consequence of technological progression under the assumption that it does not annihilate itself before it is capable of doing so. As Vollstrecker already pointed out living space is a limited resource. Though I believe that the human population will stabilize somewhat logarithmically, the idea of terraforming and living on other planets is certainly appealing.

Whether or not terraforming a planet is ethical is a difficult question to answer. Most people seem to agree that if terraforming eventuated the annihilation of an exoecosystem then it would be unethical. As a whole, however, I think that the intrinsic xenophobia and selfishness of the human species would inevitably lead to such an annihilation given that our technology was significantly superior. If what society considers acceptable is also considered ethical then terraforming another planet is certainly ethical; a direct consequence of human selfishness.

I personally find the idea of terraforming another planet with life on it appalling. Human beings are like a plague to our own planet's ecosystem. I certainly hope that the plague never becomes infectious.

Even otherwise, I'm not sure I'm entirely comfortable with the idea of terraforming a planet. I find that there is inherent beauty in the way nature set things up. The human plague would only tarnish this beauty, with or without life. However, the spread of the human plague is a necessity for the progression of science. In my personal opinion, our quest for knowledge transcends any question of ethics unless we are harming living beings.