Reading through that thread earlier about man going to Mars, it got me thinking "does this mean we could outlive the end of the Earth"? I mean, people in that thread were discussing the idea of being on Mars within the next 50-odd years. Me? I'm skeptical, I don't personally believe that we'll make it there this century (permantly, anyway).
But what about in 2-300 years time? Could it get to the point that we no longer need Earth? And when it gets to that point... will there ever be an end to humanity?
If we start talking inhabiting multiple planets, across different solar systems, or even galaxies, the ideas of a nuclear war ending humanity will be gone, and who cares about what happens environmentally on Earth, when we could all just bail out down the road, a galaxy or two away.
I know I'm being highly unrealistic, but I'm talking thousands of years from now.
If history has taught us anything, it's that no species of any kind has existed forever, but at the same time, no species in the history of the Earth has achieved what we've achieved... also, we've hardly been around long at all in comparison with the dinosaurs.
Anyway, what's your take?
