“Because It’s There” Is Good Enough

In support of curiosity.

Image generated with ChatGPT (OpenAI).

Hi. In 1923, when asked his reason for attempting to climb Mount Everest, British mountaineer George Mallory answered, “Because it’s there.” I’ve thought of that lately with NASA’s Artemis II mission. Let me back up a bit. I have always loved space missions. I’m fascinated by all the science and engineering, the numerous teams that have to work together to accomplish both the travel and the mission that requires the travel, and of course, the experiences of the actual astronauts. I think it’s all very cool. Last Friday, I sat on the couch for two hours, with a big cheesy grin on my face, joyfully watching the re-entry, splashdown, and recovery of the crew. I was fascinated. I loved it!

At these times it’s never very long before someone asks some questions like, “But why go to space? Why go to the moon? Is it worth it? What does accomplish?” Are these good questions? I don’t know. Maybe. But I’m over here like, “Why go!? Because it’s there!” That’s good enough for me. Research, exploration, and discovery are worth it for their own sake. (I acknowledge that I’m not the most adventuresome person, and that I did nothing in this enterprise but watch it. But that’s not my point. I get to appreciate it by virtue of sharing in both the humanity of it all and the communicated learning and discovery.) But I suppose I could say some more.

The heavens declare the glory of God and reveal His knowledge to us (Psalm 19:1-4); they should be studied because creation itself helps us know God. Portions of God’s power and nature are known by observing creation (Romans 1:19-20). Scripture encourages the study of the natural world for knowledge, wisdom, and truth. But more than that, we’re humans! Enough said, right? No?

Imago Dei

We’re God’s image. Aside from other implications, like being designed to live in meaningful community relationships, being the image of God suggests it’s not enough to just make a living, or to accomplish tasks. We learn, discover, create, appreciate beauty, laugh, invent, and take dominion of our world and resources. It’s built into us. We often do these things without even thinking about it. But we’re in a dangerous time. If we’re not careful, we could think the average life is comprised of ticking off to-do lists at work or home, and buying and consuming stuff. That’s not good enough for image bearers. We’re meant for more than that.

I’ll pause here to say that I am not saying everything about space exploration is good or efficient, or that I agree with every policy and expenditure. Of course, it should have good oversight like every other area of spending. I do take exception to the idea that we should spend that money on (insert needed spending area here) instead. We’re probably already spending money on that thing, and a lot more. NASA is 0.4% of budget; it’s not a significant driver of spending. And to think its budget will make the difference in any other area is not a serious consideration to me. Governments have always played a role in research and exploration, just not exclusively, and it’s fine with me if they continue to invest there. But—and this is important—this post is not really about government spending, so I’m fine with disagreement on that. I’m really thinking about humanity’s need to boldly go where no one has gone before, or to put it another way, to break out of what we know and dare to step into the unknown.

We cannot allow this world (including AI, which I think I like but it’s too soon to tell) to turn us into machines, checking off tasks to make money or to be productive but not human, creative, spiritual, and philosophical. We cannot justify exploration by declaring what’s there before we get there. We cannot justify research by declaring the outcome before it’s learned. We don’t know what we don’t know. We just have to be curious and, ethically and morally, go where that takes us. To deny that is to deny our humanity. Sometimes that’s good enough.