Stephen Hawking is one of the smartest men on the planet, so generally when he talks about the future of humanity, it’s worth listening. Especially when he’s convinced we’ve only got another thousand years on this rock and that we need to get off it sooner rather than later.
Hawking, speaking at the Oxford Union debating society this week, took that position — essentially stating that in the long run we’ve blown it. Between nuclear weapons, climate change, and our potential to create killer robots, this mudball is a loss and it’s time to bounce.
We must also continue to go into space for the future of humanity. I don’t think we will survive another 1,000 years without escaping beyond our fragile planet.
Hawking has a point. With increasing populations and dwindling resources (which are only partially offset by technological gains), it’s clear that humanity needs to turn towards the stars to find what we’re searching for. We’ve already found the planets, so really it’s just a matter of figuring out how to get there. Heck, our first interstellar residents are already set to go.
At least we know we won’t have to worry about killer robots for a while.
(via Business Insider)
