Why Build Civilizations in Space - Threats to Humanity

We are just a speck of dust in a universe of sand, and our species is going in circles on that speck – Earth. For years now, rising voices are ringing the bells of fear, we as human species could go extinct. One way to mitigate that is to go, live, and thrive out in space. Some people like Elon Musk, Robert Bigelow, Richard Branson, and Jeff Bezos are taking interest and doing something about it. People like them are doing their part, why not you and me?

My intention for this article is to lay out a simple but crucial argument why we, as a species, need to be planning our expansion into the cosmos. My intention for this website is to passionately and artistically identify and represent the technologies and sciences that will help us jump to a Type I Kardashev civilization and explore the probable architecture of future megastructures.

As Simon Sinek would say, “Why.” Why care, why invest in time and energy? Let us admit it. We all go about our daily lives, never considering that humanity might go extinct. We do that with our mortality. It is not our fault, though, because nature and evolution wired our brains this way. See, I know that eventually, I am going to die, but I do not go around with that thought in my head all day every day. It will paralyze me, drive me crazy, and probably dysfunctional. However, recognizing and accepting my mortality every once in a while has helped me set my priorities straight. It has helped me evaluate my actions, course correct, and organize my life around what is essential in and around my life, like goals, dreams, family, and friends.

So, recognizing our collective mortality as a species and how fragile our existence on one planet is, could help us effectively to evaluate our actions, course correct, and plan for a meaningful extended life for ourselves and our future generations.

Now you might ask: Could humanity go extinct? The short answer is, Yes! Ok, how can we go extinct? The answer is, oh, boy! There are many ways that humanity could suffer, deteriorate, or completely go Puff!

Below is a list of some possible and probable events. I will be expanding on the points on the list in future posts.