Space Exploration

[TGLS]

They are about to immerse themselves in a literally completely alien culture, about to learn about their history, their culture, their different ways of doing things, whatever technology they may or may not have, how they avoided problems that the other didn't and vice versa... whereas we have some bacteria and some rocks.
We have been born into the watching paint dry end of space, my friends.

Exceptionally unlikely. Any intelligent species that didn't manage to wipe themselves out would likely have gone over and wiped out the protosapients on the other planet (if any) as they expanded to consume more and more resources.

[Yukaphile]

I could definitely see worlds we colonize seceding from Earth, and we come together to fight them. We're just too crazy to get along. Makes you wonder if God is nuts, since if he did create us in his own image... what does that say about him? That God is bipolar? LOL.

[Madner Kami]

Waging war (beyond a war of orbital bombardement with complete extinction as a goal) with colonies beyond the Earth-Moon-system is completely pointless and unrealizable without a massive leap in propulsion technology. Until then, the defenders have such a silly advantage, that it's not even funny anymore, while the attacker has no economic viability on his side.

[Independent George]

And as for space exploration itself, I find the real world extremely boring because I find our solar system extremely boring. If there is life its a just bit of bacteria somewhere. Everything else is just barren rock and ice. Just think: somewhere out there in the universe, most likely an untold billion light years away, there is someone getting their first proper look at the stars and realising that there is life on their nearest planet. They are about to immerse themselves in a literally completely alien culture, about to learn about their history, their culture, their different ways of doing things, whatever technology they may or may not have, how they avoided problems that the other didn't and vice versa... whereas we have some bacteria and some rocks.

Is intelligent life really the only thing you have any interest in? Not asteroid mining, or colonizing Mars, or getting started on our Dyson swarm?

Even if there is no other life in the galaxy, I am still excited by the possibility of humanity expanding beyond our one little planet. How is that not exciting?

[BridgeConsoleMasher]

And as for space exploration itself, I find the real world extremely boring because I find our solar system extremely boring. If there is life its a just bit of bacteria somewhere. Everything else is just barren rock and ice. Just think: somewhere out there in the universe, most likely an untold billion light years away, there is someone getting their first proper look at the stars and realising that there is life on their nearest planet. They are about to immerse themselves in a literally completely alien culture, about to learn about their history, their culture, their different ways of doing things, whatever technology they may or may not have, how they avoided problems that the other didn't and vice versa... whereas we have some bacteria and some rocks.

Is intelligent life really the only thing you have any interest in? Not asteroid mining, or colonizing Mars, or getting started on our Dyson swarm?

Even if there is no other life in the galaxy, I am still excited by the possibility of humanity expanding beyond our one little planet. How is that not exciting?

Dude we're never gonna get hyperdrive. Face it.

[Independent George]

Dude we're never gonna get hyperdrive. Face it.

Who needs hyperdrive? Give me a space elevator, an orbital ring, and the beginnings of a Dyson swarm, and I'll be happy. There is even a small chance that I will live to see the early stages begin construction; I find any one of those possibilities is tremendously exciting.

ETA: I find the possibility of colonizing the Inner and Outer solar system incredibly exciting - not least of all because the technology needed to begin is not that far outside of what we currently have. All of it starts with sending primitive robotic probes into space.

[clearspira]

And as for space exploration itself, I find the real world extremely boring because I find our solar system extremely boring. If there is life its a just bit of bacteria somewhere. Everything else is just barren rock and ice. Just think: somewhere out there in the universe, most likely an untold billion light years away, there is someone getting their first proper look at the stars and realising that there is life on their nearest planet. They are about to immerse themselves in a literally completely alien culture, about to learn about their history, their culture, their different ways of doing things, whatever technology they may or may not have, how they avoided problems that the other didn't and vice versa... whereas we have some bacteria and some rocks.

Is intelligent life really the only thing you have any interest in? Not asteroid mining, or colonizing Mars, or getting started on our Dyson swarm?

Even if there is no other life in the galaxy, I am still excited by the possibility of humanity expanding beyond our one little planet. How is that not exciting?

Yeah, pretty much. I have rocks to look at outside my window. Photographs of other rocks do not fill me with great excitement. And as for the Dyson swarm and the space lift, they are not happening. There is simply no commercial viability in it - and yes, that does come come before science as far as the government is concerned.

[Madner Kami]

Fine for you, if you don't care. I do, so does Independent George. It's a great world were people can have different interests.

[Darth Wedgius]

Personally, I'd be intrigued by any fossilized or living microbes we find on Mars, and fascinated by any life we find on Titan (it'd have to be life not as we know it). I think it's possible for there might be complex life as we kinda sorta know it in Europa.

The odds of finding tool-using life as we know it in our lifetimes? Admittedly we're virtually certain not to find it. But there's always a chance it found find us...

[Madner Kami]

The odds of finding tool-using life as we know it in our lifetimes? Admittedly we're virtually certain not to find it. But there's always a chance it found find us...

Actually we found already tool-using life. Apes in general are fairly well capable of tool-use, but also a number of ̶m̶̶o̶̶d̶̶e̶̶r̶̶n̶̶ ̶̶d̶̶i̶̶n̶̶o̶̶s̶̶a̶̶u̶̶r̶̶s̶ birds are fairly adapt as well. Crows in particular and various parrot-species come to mind. Crows especially are even capable of refurbishing things to use them as a tool in a limited capacity. Also, various cephalopods are hot-contenders in so far as they possess an astonishing capacity for problem-solving and, argueably, tool-use as well. Not to even talk about dolphins and elephants.