 |
| Mars as seen by Nasa's Perseverance rover |
The spaceship would have all kinds of instruments and data systems to tell you what was out there and resolve most cosmological mysteries. Apart from the philosophical mysteries perhaps – such as what am I doing here staring at Alpha Centauri?
Putting the doubts to one side you could first zip off to explore the Moon, then perhaps the hellish atmosphere of Venus, the derelict geology of Mars followed by the icy majesty of Jupiter. On past Saturn, Uranus and Neptune and maybe a brief landing on Pluto to admire the landscape of frozen nitrogen. Then hit warp drive and off into interstellar space, the stars then the galaxies.
The only drawback is that you cannot come back for reasons not mentioned in the sales brochure. However, knowing this would you still go?
I wouldn’t. Not only for the obvious reasons, but the entire universe is too narrow an interest. Almost all of what interests me, sustains the old grey matter, the enthusiasms and the needful social interactions is back here on Earth. I’d need to be an obsessive to climb into that spaceship. I don’t think I’m that.
There is another reason though. Out there in that unimaginable vastness which is indeed unimaginable, even as an atheist I think I may well encounter the terrible face of God. Such an imaginary encounter is possibly where belief and unbelief could meet but hardly ever do. Perhaps I’d find out why. I don’t fancy that either.
8 comments:
They seem to have no issue popping over here though, I am assured by a plethora of redneck farmers and others
I'd risk not coming back, just to see the Earth from orbit. If I had your ship, I'd be outta here, no question
I would imagine that most of the stuff out there is incredibly boring. Not just the vast distances, but there is nothing much to interest anyone except a few geeks on the moon or on Mars. Would you waste time visiting anywhere on earth that looked like that shot of Mars? It looks like the more eroded bits of Kinder Scout on a really dull day. Even those beautiful pictures of nebulae are assembled and coloured to look appealing. We evolved to be delighted and terrified on this particular planet, and my guess is that outside of it there is not much more than a void.
Sam who are these few geeks on the moon and Mars though ? what are they doing there ? we need to know
MrMC - They're queuing up for the next Star Wars movie
'... terrible face of God.' Blake thought he saw it as a child and loved Him.
As it's rather unlikely one may see God in our normal three-dimensions-plus-time, it follows that (if such a thing is possible at all), it must happen in other dimensions, which could be interlaced with our perception of reality. So, no need to travel, as 'here and now' would be the same everywhere in these 'God' dimensions!
(Just as the answer to, "Which direction shall I look for traces of the Big Bang?" is anywhere and everywhere - it was a point source before expansion - so are these other dimensions.)
I hope that's clear. Anyone want to buy a bridge?
MrMC - to my mind the distances make it almost impossible in the sense that it would never be worthwhile. But of course the future may have different ideas.
Bucko - I'd like to see the planets but probes are showing them to us so that will do for me.
Sam - whenever the romance fades I tend to see it like that. I'm fascinated by the pictures of Mars at the moment but it won't last.
Sackers - not easy to see how anyone could have that response without knowing that the image was just too human.
Ed - I'll buy that bridge when my Nigerian bank transfer comes through.
Post a Comment