[ygjb-dupe]

> Reduction in global inequality? I don't know what you mean.

Contrast the distribution of available technology across the globe throughout history. While there are still pockets of people stuck between the neolithic and bronze age, for the most part, more people have access to more technology than ever before.

Economic disparity is enormous, but the general quality of life for those not living in societies in active war zones, or for societies that don't have despots or leaders that are deliberately withholding technology and resources ('lost tribes' that are not lost, simply xenophobic, or nations like North Korea where state inflicted poverty and restricted access to technology is a means of control).

> comments dismissive of my sense of wonder (several comments)

I disagree, but then again, my experiences are subjective ;)

> Accessible, yes. But the true workhorses of Internet are Porn and Advertising.

Yes, you are correct. I don't agree with your assertion that there is a new generation of kids hooked on porn, but I could be convinced if you shared links to peer reviewed studies.

I agree with you on advertising, but then again, we only had two decades of experience with a connected culture, and we haven't even achieved 'hyper-connectivity' in the sense that everyone is connected, all the time. Time will tell if the advertisers win, but there is no way to put the genie back in the bottle. Humans are addicted to connection (in the human sense), and the first generation of connected adults are proving to be more discerning and aware of privacy than people expected when it comes to using technology to connect to other people.

> Dismissive comments about examples of greatness

If you don't think Steve Jobs and Mark Zuckerberg are examples of greatness, how about:

Physicists

  - Stephen Hawking

  - J. Robert Oppenheimer

  - Richard Feynman

Artists

  - Banksy

  - Photographers Steve McCurry (Afghan Girl, an iconic photo), Nick Ut (photo from Vietnam war)
  - Richard Serra
  - Vik Muniz

Mathematicians, Cryptographers, Computer Scientists

Each notable for their contributions on the front of research and practical application as opposed to specific technologies

  - Benoit Mandelbrot

  - Ron Rivest

  - Adi Shamir

  - Len Adelman

  - Alan Turing

  - Edsger Dijkstra

The list goes on, and on, and on. We aren't just living on the shoulders of giants, we are living amongst them. And by the way, Justin Beibers music may not meet your taste, but Van Gogh, Kafka, and Bach were artists whose contributions weren't appreciated until after their deaths and in some case for generations.

> Going and colonizing Mars or any other world is a short term solution.

No, it's not. A short term solution would be doubling down and investing in building facilities that meet modern atmospheric expectations and attempting to survive as we burn the rest of the world down around us. A short term solution would be attempting to stifle the economic progress of undeveloped countries as they ride the fossil fuel train to something like economic equivalency instead of investing in and being the early adopters that drive down the cost of environmentally alternatives such that other countries can modernize themselves.

Another short term solution would be to trigger a set of EMPs in orbit that would knock out the last 100 years of technological development and force us to build technologies that don't rely on the ready availability of fossil fuels while we reacquire our current level of sophistication.

Going to another planet, and learning how to survive there, including how to properly manage and keep an environment pristine and survivable in a sustainable fashion (a core requirement to survive in a hostile environment) is most certainly not a short term solution.

> It is just that my imagination hasn't been so dried up that I cannot imagine something more wonderful than a rocket taking off.....

“Stories of imagination tend to upset those without one.” ― Terry Pratchett (oh, also, another contemporary great person!)

[babyrainbow]

Will respond to just one of your points. Don't think we will be going anywhere with the rest of them..

>Going to another planet, and learning how to survive there, including how to properly manage and keep an environment pristine and survivable in a sustainable fashion...

We are not able to keep ourselves from completely ruining the environment here on earth. That we would be able to "learn to keep the environment on mars or what ever world pristine and survivable in a sustainable fashion" is just wishful thinking.

What I think is that the short sightedness we have, as a species will be our doom. And worse, our core system of existence, require people to be more and more short sighted.

So, as much as we might not like it, unless we, as a species, learn to cultivate sustainable habits, we are going to be selected against in this race to become a space faring species. We just might end up going to Mars or a couple of other worlds. But that would buy us some time, but that is about it be it.