Brothers of Fear?

I hope the 2012 "movement" and the space habitation movement are not brothers of fear.

Illustration by Bearman2007

 

The two movements are oddly similar. The 2012 movement's mind, heart and spirit are formed from human extinction and fear. While our movement has it's kidney, esophagus, and leg bones made from human extinction and fear. The difference is we would only be crippled if human extinction wasn't a problem. The 2012 movement would not exist if there where no threats to our survival. We still have other reasons to have a space colony. But, there is something else that makes us different. I wrote this for one of my English essays...

Logic is not the answer to the question that plagues the mind of every generation who hold the fate of the next solely in their hands: "how do we make this world better for the next wave of life". No, logic cannot come close to answering that, only passion and faith can, for logic is based entirely on the status quo. When logic looks out it's window it observes and draws conclusions off what exists today; when passion looks out, it dreams and schemes and fights with it's eye focused on a better tomorrow, a tomorrow where nothing today would suggest such a happy fate. No, looking at today can only lead to a conclusion of misery.

~ Passion Cubed Times Logic Equals Motivation by Daniel Sims

We answer that question which is on the mind of every generation, the 2012 movement does not. Which might make the 2012 movement more "logical", but we are more human. Consider today, everything you saw and read, very little indicates we will have a space habitation, what does support space habitation is overwhelmed by all the counter evidence that was produced today. But, we scheme, we dream and we fight. We are focused on a better tomorrow. We do not make the conclusion that humanity is lost, we fight. Sure, we are slightly illogical since we are scheming and making assumptions, but I can not conclude that humanity is lost and doomed. I can't explain how I feel, but even with all these indicators that humans are evil, I still feel humanity is pure and good. Yes, if I where to look at today's news events I would have to conclude humanity will die, I can not. I am not a computer and that is what the 2012 movement is for, computers and mind controlled humans. I am human and I fight for a better tomorrow even when it's impossible.

Yes, the two movements are brothers of fear but we do not have the same goal in life. The 2012 movement will leave the world in ruin and create suffering, this movement will at least give people hope. But still, I struggle with this human extinction part of the space habitation argument. I need help to solve this problem and find where it fits.

The Fire of a Launch

This is a comment for the Review of U.S. Human Space Flight Plans Committee. The question is: What do you find most compelling about NASA’s human space flight activities and why?
Last updated: July 6, 2009
Passion, a mission, a purpose, a focus: this is what NASA's work does has given me and why I believe this nation, more then ever, needs NASA. The last two great periods for the US were wars, the cold war brought us unimagined achievements and WW2 brought unsurpassed industrial production. Those two times in history placed American as a leader in the world. But, war can no longer be our focus, for it threatens, not the lives of a few soldiers or a city or a nation, the all the human life on this planet. Humans are truly experts in war and the thought that war could lead to a day where the sunrise is not viewed by a human eye leads many to not focus on war. War can no longer be a passion because it today it means self destruction.

This is why we need a macro-engineering project. But not just any macro-engineering project. Yes, we can build a better city, a longer bridge, a higher building or a bigger canal, but they all lack something. It is just what we have done before, but bigger and they do not tap into something deep within our instinct. I believe humans are driven to protect and better the world for the next generation. Imagine a day when nothing, absolutely nothing, can wipe out humanity. Imagine a day where every star supports life. THAT, that is a purpose. Thinking of that gives life and energy to a person. Looking up everyday and seeing that there is nearly infinite possibilities and wilderness builds a huge fire in the heart. When I wake up, I first think of this possibility and when I want to stop studying or blogging or working on all I have to do, I look up. The fire will never die in me because of this; this mission has complete control over me. Space flows through my veins.

NASA shows this is possible, it shows that anything one dreams can happen. IT shows not even the huge gravity of Earth can hold back passion; can hold back a dream! Yes, NASA would be the worst, most inefficient corporation in the world, but they are not a corporation. Even human who sees a launch is lit like a candle out of the burning cloud of a shuttle escaping the chains of gravity and that will never, ever go out. This fire, in even one person, is well worth the cost of one shuttle flight, but this fire is not given to just one person. A launch lights the world! Once humanity is given this passion NOTHING will stop us. We will be an unstoppable species.

The beginning of the song used Star Trek: Enterprise intro places this nicely; it explains what goes through the mind of someone touched by a launch...

It's been a long road,
To get from there to here.
It's been a long
time,
but my time is finally here.

And I can feel a change in the
wind right now.
Nothing's in my way.
And they're not gonna hold me down
no more.
No they're not gonna hold me down.

'Cause I've got faith of
the heart.
I'm going where my heart will take me.
I've got faith to
believe.
I can do anything.
I've got strength of the soul.
And no
one's going to bend or break me.
I can reach any star.
I've got
faith,
I've got faith,
Faith of the heart.
~ Rod Steward - Faith of the Heart

I choose this part because we are not there yet. Humanity has put hundreds of years into this. Please, the dream of a day where the second part this this song, the part used in the intro, describes the mind set of those touched by the fire of a launch. That day will be when we leave this solar system. This is what NASA gives to us and justifies it's cost. Passion given to a human is invaluable.

Please, I, on my knees, beg you to not only keep the fire of the launch burning, but to expand it. Please, give what human space flight has awoken in me to everyone. Human space flight was the stepping stone, this allowed me to find the people to help me in my goals. Let NASA burn and pass it's fire across this demotivated nation. The thought of a human bathing in the light from another star will drive me, forever. Human space flight is NASA's passion and what it spreads.
Let humanity burn with passion!
Share your comment here.

The image that links to this article on the home page is by jurvetson.

Analysis of the Poll "Do you think humanity will move off earth in the near future?"

Introduction

Public opinion will be a huge factor when advancing to humanity's colonization of other planets and the future of manned space flight. Disasters like the space shuttle Columbia have the possibility of reducing public support. However, “A poll taken yesterday [,a few days after the Columbia accident,] suggests that Americans still support the shuttle program, with 82 per cent in a CNN-USA Today-Gallup poll saying manned flights should continue. That's about the same percentage who said it should continue after the 1986 Challenger disaster. The poll of 462 adults had a margin of error of plus or minus five percentage points”(The Globe and Mail 1). In a poll more recent poll with a larger sample size, the Coalition for Space Exploration found that 43% of American adults placed a very, very high value on the space program, compared to 12% placing very little to no value, and the rest ranging in between those extremes. This report found that the highest source of value American adults what in technological innovation and development that came with the field, at 77%, and consumer goods developed from the space program, at 73%. A interesting part of the Coalition for Space Exploration's report pointed out a problem the space community faces, before giving examples of spin-off technology, only 38% said that they where completely sure they interacted with technology developed from space. After being show examples of spin-offs, 93% said they where completely sure they interacted with technology developed from space. Further education in the survey increased respondents opinions of the space program, 76% and 79% strongly affected positively by learning that the aerospace industry contributes 2% to the gross domestic produce and adds 500,000 jobs to the Unites States, respectively. The survey gave more information and education throughout, resulting in a gain of 30 percentage points in those who placed a huge value on the space program, up from 43% to 73%. This survey had a large sample of American adults (n = 1,018), so these results can be generalized to the whole population of American adults. (Coalition for Space Exploration 2)

Aim

This study is geared to find the opinions of those who visited my blog. The results should be of use to those blogging about manned spaceflight so they may gear their articles to better serve their readers.

Methods

Design

This study used the blogger.com poll widget to ask the question “Do you think humanity will move off earth in the near future?”. The poll had the following options: “No, it is too risky.”, “No, there is no will to do so.”, “Yes, there is a big enough of a reason to go.”, “Yes, we need to move off earth to survive.”, “Maybe, only if we get out if this bad economy”, “Other”, “Maybe, only if the public is motivated enough to support it”. The subjects where then invited to leave their blog's URL and post a explanation of their vote and voice their opinions on the subject using the blog's comment system. A dedicated post was “sticked” for this purpose. The participants where offered a free backlink for participating in the survey, this was a voluntary sample, yielding 17 responses.

Because of the high bounce rate and the low time amount of time visitors spend on my blog, this survey had to be quick. I also did not have a large enough subject poll to take an SRS (simple random sample) from. This survey took place over a week, but comments where left open to allow non-subjects to voice their opinions.

Subjects

We do not know much about the subjects because we did not ask for any demographical information. We can assume they all have Internet access and that they vast majority are bloggers because many subjects left URLs.

Results and Discussion

Technicalities

Because of the low sample size, I can not generalize these results to the population of Americans, I may be able to generalize to my readers, but it is a stretch at best. It is also possible for a person to enter their opinion twice, over the course of 2 days. Also, bias may be formed because of the voluntary nature of the survey because only interested people will take the survey.

Outcomes

The answer choices were: “No, it is too risky.”(5%), “No, there is no will to do so.”(29%), “Yes, there is a big enough of a reason to go.”(11%), “Yes, we need to move off earth to survive.”(17%), “Maybe, only if we get out if this bad economy”(0%), “Other”(17%), “Maybe, only if the public is motivated enough to support it”(17%). They are numbered in this order on the above chart.

Conclusions

Though I got opposite results when compared to current research, this is not surprising. Because of the huge increases in opinion of manned space flight when subjects where provided literature on the subject, I think may sample did not know the benefits of space or I got extremes of opinions because of the low sample size and voluntary nature of this survey. These results show a failing of the space community to educate the public on space. These results could also show my selection of a voluntary survey type which is prone to error and underrepresentation.

Another anomaly is the general pro-space stance of the comments, verses the less positive survey results. Because of the errors in my method I have to label this as inconclusive. However, I have learned enough to modify my methods and try again, building a survey that will reduce the number of people who answer “Other” is crucial as well. Further exploration into what other opinion exist is necessary, as well as a more in depth survey. Maybe I can offer entrecard credits to increase my sample size.

Acknowledgments

The participants who chose to identify themselves are:

chato of Mental Health Humor and Cartoons,
sarah of PC Game Trek,
Bob of Black holes and astrostuff,
Spicybugz of Spicybugz World,
Metallman of Metallman's Reverie,
Ravyn of Exchange of Realities,
bstone of planet earth looks blue,
nipsy of its completely nipplelicious,
Jude of Mature Not Senile,
April of The Crazy Green Cheapskate,
RevOxley,
Stephanie of Rocket Scientist,
webbielady of Webloglearner,
Lubasa of Lubasa sketchlog.
Thank you to all the other poll takers who did not identify themselves and to those who did id themselves.

Sources

(1) Ha, Tu Thanh. “NASA woes put space future on hold” The Global and Mail. 3 Feb. 2003. 28 Feb. 2009 <http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/ArticleNews/PEstory/TGAM/20030203/UNASAN/International/international/internationalAmericasHeadline_temp/9/9/18/>

(2) CSE_Gen Pop National TOPLINE_090203. No publication date given. Coalition for Space Exploration. 28 Feb. 2009 <http://www.spacecoalition.com/banners/09_88percent/CSE_Gen%20Pop_National_TOPLINE_090203_adjusted.pdf>

4. chota. “No humanity” [Weblog comment.] Approximately 16 Feb. 2009. Poll: Do you think humanity will move off earth in the near future?. Daniel Sims. Habitation Intention. <http://habitationintention.blogspot.com/2009/02/poll-do-you-think-humanity-will-move.html#IDComment15277006> 28 Feb. 2009

3. sarah. “I think” [Weblog comment.] Approximately 16 Feb. 2009. Poll: Do you think humanity will move off earth in the near future?. Daniel Sims. Habitation Intention. <http://habitationintention.blogspot.com/2009/02/poll-do-you-think-humanity-will-move.html#IDComment15277185> 28 Feb. 2009

4. Bob. “We have to” [Weblog comment.] Approximately 16 Feb. 2009. Poll: Do you think humanity will move off earth in the near future?. Daniel Sims. Habitation Intention. <http://habitationintention.blogspot.com/2009/02/poll-do-you-think-humanity-will-move.html#IDComment15282426> 28 Feb. 2009

5. Spicybugz. “And where” [Weblog comment.] Approximately 16 Feb. 2009. Poll: Do you think humanity will move off earth in the near future?. Daniel Sims. Habitation Intention. <http://habitationintention.blogspot.com/2009/02/poll-do-you-think-humanity-will-move.html#IDComment15284076> 28 Feb. 2009

6. Metallman. “Hey there” [Weblog comment.] Approximately 23 Feb. 2009. Poll: Do you think humanity will move off earth in the near future?. Daniel Sims. Habitation Intention. <http://habitationintention.blogspot.com/2009/02/poll-do-you-think-humanity-will-move.html#IDComment15293712> 28 Feb. 2009

7. Ravyn. “It's all dependent” [Weblog comment.] Approximately 23 Feb. 2009. Poll: Do you think humanity will move off earth in the near future?. Daniel Sims. Habitation Intention. <http://habitationintention.blogspot.com/2009/02/poll-do-you-think-humanity-will-move.html#IDComment15373370> 28 Feb. 2009

8. bstone. “well, we've always” [Weblog comment.] Approximately 23 Feb. 2009. Poll: Do you think humanity will move off earth in the near future?. Daniel Sims. Habitation Intention. <http://habitationintention.blogspot.com/2009/02/poll-do-you-think-humanity-will-move.html#IDComment15379180> 28 Feb. 2009

9. nipsy. “Unfortunately” [Weblog comment.] Approximately 23 Feb. 2009. Poll: Do you think humanity will move off earth in the near future?. Daniel Sims. Habitation Intention. <http://habitationintention.blogspot.com/2009/02/poll-do-you-think-humanity-will-move.html#IDComment15403953> 28 Feb. 2009

10. Jude. “I think many” [Weblog comment.] Approximately 23 Feb. 2009. Poll: Do you think humanity will move off earth in the near future?. Daniel Sims. Habitation Intention. <http://habitationintention.blogspot.com/2009/02/poll-do-you-think-humanity-will-move.html#IDComment15423662> 28 Feb. 2009

11. April. “I think the” [Weblog comment.] Approximately 23 Feb. 2009. Poll: Do you think humanity will move off earth in the near future?. Daniel Sims. Habitation Intention. <http://habitationintention.blogspot.com/2009/02/poll-do-you-think-humanity-will-move.html#IDComment15480089> 28 Feb. 2009

12. RevOxley. “I think eventually” [Weblog comment.] Approximately 23 Feb. 2009. Poll: Do you think humanity will move off earth in the near future?. Daniel Sims. Habitation Intention. <http://habitationintention.blogspot.com/2009/02/poll-do-you-think-humanity-will-move.html#IDComment15646321> 28 Feb. 2009

13. Stephanie. “No. I hope we do” [Weblog comment.] 24 Feb. 2009. Poll: Do you think humanity will move off earth in the near future?. Daniel Sims. Habitation Intention. <http://habitationintention.blogspot.com/2009/02/poll-do-you-think-humanity-will-move.html#IDComment15716415> 28 Feb. 2009

14. webbielady. “Unless the earth” [Weblog comment.] 25 Feb. 2009. Poll: Do you think humanity will move off earth in the near future?. Daniel Sims. Habitation Intention. <http://habitationintention.blogspot.com/2009/02/poll-do-you-think-humanity-will-move.html#IDComment15750241> 28 Feb. 2009

15. Lebasa. “Probably” [Weblog comment.] 27 Feb. 2009. Poll: Do you think humanity will move off earth in the near future?. Daniel Sims. Habitation Intention. <http://habitationintention.blogspot.com/2009/02/poll-do-you-think-humanity-will-move.html#IDComment15828434> 28 Feb. 2009

Surveys and Backlinks

On Sunday my little study on the public opinion of space habitation ended. I want to write a post the mimics the format of professional studies. While researching for the introduction section of this study, I came across several papers that discussed the very topic I was studying. I am very happy with the post and will be posting it on the weekend, after I finish proofreading. I would like to thank those bloggers who participated in my survey now and later in the study itself. (Backlinks, for everyone!) My data had a huge non-response rate, so I can not make generalizations about the opinions of all mankind. But, I can redesign my study based on the comments I got. The participants who chose to identify themselves are:

chato of Mental Health Humor and Cartoons,
sarah of PC Game Trek,
Bob of Black holes and astrostuff,
Spicybugz of Spicybugz World,
Metallman of Metallman's Reverie,
Ravyn of Exchange of Realities,
bstone of planet earth looks blue,
nipsy of its completely nipplelicious,
Jude of Mature Not Senile,
April of The Crazy Green Cheapskate,
RevOxley,
Stephanie of Rocket Scientist,
webbielady of Webloglearner,
Lubasa of Lubasa sketchlog.
Thank you to all the other poll takers who did not identify themselves. Your time and your efforts have given me inside into the subject which I am passionate about.

In other news, there is a real study on public opinion of manned space flight. If you have any free time, please take this survey. Surveys like mine and the space expectations survey need a very large sample size to get over the problem of voluntary sampling and to make conclusions about a population. In voluntary sampling, only those who care about the subject will take the survey, creating biased results. Every questionnaire matters in a survey, the space community needs your input to but understand and serve you, please take survey ran by the International Academy of Astronautics.