I still dunno.....
You guys make points that are likely valid, and I would be prone to agree..... but:
Although, with Portugese funding, Columbus accidentally “discovered” the new world, there were quite a few people already on this continent whose ghosts, were they given a vote, might question whether his trip was a good thing in the long run.
Sure, war and the space program contribute to technological advances which we are all happily consuming. But I cannot think that nuclear technology has made this planet a more charming place to live. Jet planes make my travel quicker, but more fun? Computers are a terrific drafting tool, give me quicker and broader access to information, and faster (if somewhat stilted) communications with friends and relatives throughout the world, but does any of that make me a better (or happier) person? Plastics bring me incredibly well detailed model railroad stuff, but are my hobby hours any more fulfilling than those of some guy soldering pieces of tomato can together to make only a fair looking, fair running loco model in 1939?
If some guy wants to climb Everest “because it’s there” that’s fine with me. His little obsession doesn’t cost me much of anything. And maybe I’ll see a pretty photo of the top of the world as a result. But, although the costs are hidden in convoluted, untranslatable budgets, I suspect that this would be a better world for ALL of us if we got our “positive news” through spending more on people --- feeding them until we can educate them so they can feed (and capably, ethically, rationally govern) themselves --- rather than on fascinating explorations and highly questionable wars.
We cannot, I suppose, stop progress, but we can sure question it --- particularly when it's so expensive. But now I'm gonna climb down off my soap box and start thinking about important stuff.
Like Model railroading, for instance.....
BillS