The Most Important Thing

I wander sometimes about the most important thing that we are doing as a species.

In the broadest sense possible, I think it has got to be our scientific endeavors because science is the only human endeavor which has some universal validity.

Of all the diverse scientific undertakings of human beings, the single endeavor that can be a game changer is the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence.

More than other possible pathbreaking breakthroughs, say finding a vaccine for AIDS or a cure for most types of cancer, if we find intelligent civilizations elsewhere in the universe, that will fundamentally change our place in the universe.

Unfortunately, most of us humans are too engrossed in our mundane, daily affairs to think too much about these abstract things. Indeed, I believe this search is a far from abstract quest.

In spite of great communicators such as Carl Sagan, humanity's other more ancient instincts continue to hold sway over its thinking.

Alas ...