[kelseyfrancis]

And if we completely address hunger, poverty, disease, nuclear proliferation, terrorism, sectarian violence, economic inequality, etc. but then an asteroid or comet causes our extinction?

[seiji]

Yeah, it's like focusing on writing 100% test coverage for all code you use so your company is more reliable while ignoring all your code is stored on just one 10 year old HD that could fail at any moment (or fire, flood, cloverfield, etc).

[rhino369]

If you are worried about that, why not build a biodome in the antarctic instead. Or build millions of greenhouse farms to survive impact winter.

Even if you are really into space exploration, developing a comet pusher would be infinitely more valuable.

[skorgu]

At least for the comet pusher, the tech needed to put a non-trivial number of humans on Mars has a ton of overlap with the tech needed to divert potential impacts.