We need to find life, and quickly
Major ramble incoming. My mind operates in at least 3 dimensions, and putting stuff on paper - linear - is damned near impossible for me, so I apologize in advance. Take each separate thought, and launch it into its own coordinate in space. Then look at the whole as one - like its own little galaxy of thoughts.
The band, Devo, was ahead of its time name-wise. Named after the theory that humans were de-evolving, I'd call it close to prophetic except for the fact that I don't really believe in de-evolution - scientifically it's a word that has no meaning. Same as reverse racism. No such thing. Stagnation, on the other hand? Yeah, I can go with that. Humans are stagnating, and we, as a species need to find something to keep us going. In fact, two concepts have kept us going for this long, but they're losing their luster.
Religion. I understand - totally. It sucks to think that when you die, that's it. And when you look around at all the abhorrent behavior, it's really nice to 1.) have something to explain it all and 2.) have something that insures you that the bad people will get it in the neck, eventually, while the good people, aka the religious, will be granted a carte blanche escape clause from the inevitable - not existing anymore. Provided you stop thinking about it all - completely.
Money. Something to strive for. You gotta get a leg up on the other guy, and what better way to do it. Quantify your value to the world by having lots of currency. If you have more money, you can buy your way out. You can buy a haven. You can buy freedom - true freedom - not the government provided limited edition of it. Somebody pisses you off, you buy their apartment building out from under them and kick them out on the street or you buy an assassin and have them rubbed out or you buy any number of layers of protection from the world. Money is the shit. Get enough of it and "bullshit" I say. You can TOO buy happiness - provided you stop thinking about it all - completely.
These two things have something in common. They enable you to believe that your life can be extended. To close your eyes to the fact that you're done before you start. And to stave off the knowledge that you're born shortsighted. When you're born, you know nothing of the death of stars nor of the impossibility of lengthy space travel where in even a few months your muscles would atrophy to the point that even if you found another planet to live on, you'd be a pile of mush in any kind of gravity. But it isn't all doom and gloom. One thing would turn it all around.
We are small change, and don't seem to know it. Saying that the universe is vast is the greatest of understatements, but I find that the average human has absolutely no idea just how vast it is. In fact, I find in most people I talk to, that their image of the size of the universe is even smaller than the actual size of just our galaxy - some smaller than just the solar system. It's understandable. I don't fault anyone for this - it's really hard to comprehend. We need to find extraterrestrial life. We need this badly.
I've often looked at the American government and thought it was dying. It was a beautiful concept back when you could run for president by travelling all over on the back of a train explaining to everyone what your vision was. But these days, everything has become a marketting strategy. There's no vision left to it, and not everyone has an equal opportunity to play the "Vote for me" game. You have to subscribe to a camp that will get air time. You have to swallow a hell of a lot of cock to get any support/credibility. And that last sentence actually plays into most of our lives because if you aren't swallowing someone's cock on a daily basis, you won't be saved, you won't be promoted, you won't qualify for even the Consolation prize.
As a species, our vision of existence is mostly a world vision. In fact, many will argue that's what it needs to be, because look at all the problems we have getting along, and until we can get along, what business do we have in polluting the rest of the universe with our shortsightedness? But I believe very strongly that our inability to get along would change drastically if we found life elsewhere. It would turn religion upside down and shake it out (although many zealots would find a way to rationalize that everything was still the same - but isn't that the nature of a zealot? I digress - parenthetically as always.) It would also turn the money tree over and shake it out. Because what use is a dollar on a planet where they don't take dollars?
I think mankind has a lot of potential, and that's pretty optimistic if you read the news on a regular basis. If pressed, I could make a good argument that for the sake of all life everywhere, we really need to be eradicated. But I do believe we can reach at least one more level - but to do so will require a catalyst of great magnitude, and that catalyst is, extraterrestrial life.
If we do find it, it better be bigger and more badass than we can contend with, or we'll just kill it out of fear. That's how we roll.
Ramble off.