Humans are destined to become the Extra Terrestrials of our Universe

The survival of the human race depends on its ability to find new homes elsewhere in the universe because there's an increasing risk that a disaster will destroy Earth, world-renowned physicist Stephen Hawking said (CNN June 15, 2006). Professor Hawking in particular referred to disasters caused by global warming, nuclear warfare, genetically engineered viruses and the like.

I believe that Professor Hawking, whom I greatly respect, holds an unnecessarily dark view of the destinies ahead for humanity. I do agree that the greatest challenges we currently face very much arise from the way the human race has started to tinker with the elements prevailing on Earth. And indeed, we run the risk of a massive disruption of our entire ecological system, threatening the key conditions for our survival on this planet.

But, first of all, I do not believe that this in itself will drive us out to other planets. Secondly, I believe we will successfully face these challenges in our own environment, perhaps at great cost, but nevertheless with sufficient resourcefulness and common sense to secure ample prosperity here on Earth for countless generations to come.

I see another main force urging us to embark on the great voyage outerspace. In essence it is the same force that created the Egyptian Pyramids and the Roman Empire. It is the force that brought about Christianity, or the Islam, and it is the same force that nearly forty years ago took us to the Moon, that created the Hubble telescope, or the unmanned voyagers to Mars and Saturn.

Humanity has not been created for any particular purpose. Our kind has developed its own purpose, with or without a God to sanction it. That purpose is to seek new frontiers and to achieve greatness in their conquest, every time and again, forever.

Our journey to the Universe is a future history - a story of mankind far beyond our current imagination. And they will not be guided by darkness. Their greatest brightness will rocket humans through the vast expanse, out to the distant stars and unknown worlds. Our Universe, sooner or later, is the prime destiny of the human race, whether or not there still remain some troubling issues on our own planet.

It is the destiny of mankind to become the Extra Terrestrials of our Milky Way – and beyond. Not because we have problems here, but because we will continue to cherish dreams about the impossible – and make them come true.