[ExI] one way trip to mars

[The Avantguardian]

----- Original Message ----
> From: Mike Dougherty <msd001 at gmail.com>
> To: ExI chat list <extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org>
> Sent: Tue, January 11, 2011 4:54:57 PM
> Subject: Re: [ExI] one way trip to mars

> Is an 80 year life a "good long time" or will we feel cheated during
> year 79 that the end is approaching?  What if the mission to mars is
> expected to last 80 years? (but guaranteed to last no longer)  What
> about half that?

In the face of what Stephen Gould calls "deep time" that is the aeons, epochs, 
and eras of geologic time, what is the difference between a life of 10 years or 
a 100 years? In the grand scheme of things all things are temporary and the 
stars are but candles in the wind. That being said, who in their right mind 
would not gladly volunteer for a such an opportunity? If I were the only human 
to ever step foot on mars and my mission a total failure otherwise, I would die 
fulfilled beyond the reckoning of all those doomed to be forgeotten even by 
their own descendants. I am actually that shocked so few volunteered. It just 
goes to show how cowardly we have become compared to our ancestors of just a 
generation or two prior.

Stuart LaForge 


"There is nothing wrong with America that faith, love of freedom, intelligence, 
and energy of her citizens cannot cure."- Dwight D. Eisenhower