Space development and social responsibility

[mithridates]

That wasn't the exact title I was looking for, but I'll just go with that for lack of a better one.<br />Something I've often thought about and saw a bit of discussion on in another thread is the trickle down effect that changes to society can have - everybody using the metric system for example makes it easier to cooperate. Having a common language would be another advantage. Increased literacy in the rest of the world would be another. It would be a shame if the people that post on this forum and work in space development were born in a country that didn't offer opportunities for anything much better than the odd job selling goods, at a rate little better than needed to support a small family and certainly not enough to give the luxury (though the desire would certainly still exist) to work in and think about space development.<br /><br />What I'm curious about then is what other areas people here think people involved in space development should contribute to? Would it be better for a person interested in the development of space to spend years in developing countries working on literacy and inspiring people to educate themselves and maybe move to places where they can contribute, than to look for a job as an engineer in an area where they might or might not be able to help? Would it be better for a person with a certain amount of charisma to spend a decade or two as a businessman and then run for office, than to work in the field and (possibly) live a life of obscurity?<br /><br />One other reason for this thread is because I do see the odd thread here and there about career-related areas, and sometimes there will be a story or two about spending a lot of time trying to find work in the field and rarely succeeding. I wonder if it wouldn't be better to try to find some other ways to contribute in an indirect but perhaps more effective manner.<br /><br />Not that you can't do both of course (work in the field and contribute in other ways in one's spare time), just lookin <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p>----- </p><p>http://mithridates.blogspot.com</p> </div>

 

[mithridates]

...nothing? There was a nice piece of news today:<br />http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20070118.wmeas0118/BNStory/specialScienceandHealth/home<br /><br /><blockquote><font class="small">In reply to:</font><hr /><p>In a study published Friday in the British medical journal The Lancet, WHO scientists estimated that the number of measles deaths fell from 873,000 in 1999 to 345,000 in 2005.<p><hr /></p></p></blockquote><br />Whenever I see stories like this I think of the extra half a million people that might have the chance to get an education and participate in space development as well, if they feel so inclined. This initiative has been costing somewhere in the hundreds of millions of dollars, which is quite good considering the potential benefits of an extra 500 thousand people. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p>----- </p><p>http://mithridates.blogspot.com</p> </div>

 

[enigma10]

Such answers really can only be found in the individuals moral compass and interests. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <em>"<font color="#333399">An organism at war with itself is a doomed organism." - Carl Sagan</font></em> </div>

 

[mithridates]

Okay, but what I'm really looking for is in what manner people indirectly try to contribute to the development of space besides the obvious. There is always a certain level of development a country needs before it can begin to think about space, as well as a degree of stability. I'm a bit surprised at the lack of responses to be honest. I often imagine just how much faster we could get things done if every or most countries in the world were at the same level of development as countries in western Europe. Also, what kinds of charities do people here usually give to? Were I to give to charities they would probably involve something direct like literacy campaigns in the third world, the reduction of a specific disease, that sort of thing. The Wikimedia Foundation is also a very good one considering that their goal is to provide a free encyclopedia to everybody in the world in their own language. That's a very concrete goal that can be reached with not too much effort, just edit after edit after edit until the encyclopedia becomes a useful resource. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p>----- </p><p>http://mithridates.blogspot.com</p> </div>