Politicians should read science fiction, not westerns and detective stories

Death by short-term

The title of this article is a quote from the great scientist and science-fiction author, Sir Arthur C. Clarke, wo co-created among other works 2001: A Space Odyssey. It is one of my favourite quotes, as it addresses the major disease of our current civilization: short-termism. From finance, management to politics, all these fields suffer from an excessive focus on short-term results. Our vision and goals should be driven by a much more long-term mindset, and look for inspiration from other areas.

Who is the fool?

Space is serious topic

The current presidential election campaign in France is the perfect illustration of my thesis. I do not want enter into a detailed debate about the pros and cons of each candidate, but I just want to stress one key point. Among all the candidates, only one, Jacques Cheminade, mentions Space exploration; actually space exploration is one of the foundations of his program, and designed to last for 2 generations. The very sad part comes from the journalists who make fun on him based on what they consider as a crazy idea. On the contrary, this is the most important topic to debate, as well as the long-term solution to the current political and economic crises. In the following sections, I will rationally explain why this matters above all other considerations.

Review your history

Who is the modern Columbus

As usual, these critics totally forget History, its major milestones, patterns and learnings. In the XVth century, how fool was Christopher Columbus considered with his project to sail faster to India using the (not so new) knowledge that Earth is a sphere? And what did he do despite all these critics... Nowadays, space is clearly the New Frontier, and it has not changed since President Kennedy vision half a century ago, such a long time already! Apollo program was the last worthy effort into that direction. Indeed, the International Space Station lacks ambition and is just a way to spend the research funds without leaving the comfort zone of our immediate space neighbourhood.

Return on investment

NASA research IS profitable!

"Nice ideal, but come to real world... and where will you find the money? and there are so many more important economic priorities" is the polite answer of the critics. But we are talking about the real world, with tangible productive output, in opposition to the disconnected virtual economy based on the constantly more exotic financial products. And about the money, what would you say of a rate of return of investment of 33 percent? This was the estimation of the economic impact of NASA funding in 1971. More recently, according to Nature, "The economic benefits of NASA's programs are greater than generally realized. The main beneficiaries (the American public) may not even realize the source of their good fortune." Indeed, the list of the NASA spin-off technologies is impressive, and clearly benefits our very daily lives: from medicine (artificial limbs), transportation (radial tires), safety (firefighting), consumer (lyophilisation), environment (water purification) and some other 1650 direct innovations. So, while our leaders desperately look for sources of development in our exhausted economies, who will understand the true potential of space exploration?

The cathedrals of XXIst century

The inspiration for Middle Ages

Beyond these practical considerations, there is another major argument in favour of space exploration: the need of a vision in our modern developed societies, beyond the current materialism. Of course, I don't deny to people the need and right to get a comfortable life... but when we can afford it, some higher goals or interests should drive our existence, right? Without these, the society development will slow down... and create the conditions for new crisis again and again. For instance, after World War II, the vision was clear in Europe: rebuild the countries and establish a sustainable peace over the continent. But now what? The lack of shared vision maybe the root cause of the current European debt crisis. Space exploration could be part of the missing vision. Let's imagine: if everyday I go to work, I know I (directly or not) contribute to this great goal, that will impact the generations after me, wouldn't I feel inspired? Wouldn't be the people more united to address any challenges? As an example, the Gothic cathedrals built in Europe in the Middle Ages were a powerful society driver and unifier. These outstanding religious and artistic buildings, without direct practical purpose, led to economic growth and technology advances. Interestingly, the engineers of the time were given much freedom of innovation.  Indeed, the stonemasons, unlike most other Europeans were free (freemasons): they were not bound to the land on which they were born. Their various skills  in building complex stone structures, especially churches and cathedrals, were in great demand and allowed them to travel and find work at will. 

My question is: where are the cathedrals of our XXIst century? These people from Middle Ages were able to conduct successfully projects lasting from 1 to 2 centuries! On the other hand, despite much more advanced science and tools, we are not capable of planning and managing 30 years long industrial projects. For instance, the A380  jet airliner was very close to fail.

The beginning of Eternity

         

The last argument against space exploration is that Man should first clean his own mess on Earth before expanding. I do not deny the importance and emergency of solving war, pollution and under-development. But once again all these issues are bound, and must not prevent us, as a living species, to explore further our environment. The End of Eternity, by the science-fiction master Isaac Asimov, develops that perspective in his so talented style. By the way, I consider that this book can be seen as the keystone of all his other famous works.


To conclude, we can say that Christopher Columbus himself was far from being a saint guy: he was driven by profit and asked to become the king of all the new discovered territories. A few centuries later, we all smile reading this foolish and selfish ambition and retain only that he went beyond the New Frontier...