I was enjoying a good conversation about the cosmos and futures in space with a friend of mine today. She's was reading up on the Canadian Arrow rocket and telling me how excited she is, as someone pursuing a career in physics, to one day take part in something like space travel. I sent her a favorite article of mine which proposed the physical relocation of our planet in response to the impending enlargement of the sun in three or so billion years (As a sci-fi geek, I feed off stuff like this). Plan now, I said in jest. The article amused her and she reasonably dismissed it as something not to taken seriously since we won't be around by then. The discussion turned briefly, very very briefly, to the possibility of living to such a time. She said she doesn't believe mankind will be around that long. Because of our destructive nature we will become extinct and besides, technology thwarts Gods will.

What a sad and dangerous outlook. Really, what is Gods will? Does God condemn the x-ray machine, or the airplane or the refrigerater? Is he opposed to the cure of cancer or vaccinations? Synthetic limbs or glasses? Of course not. No one can seriously deny that the quality of life has greatly improved thanks to technological achievement. Our entire society is built on it and yet, we're still so unaccustomed to it that we are quick to shun promising future developments because its "against God" or "unnatural." No doubt, one hundred years ago, hordes of people, well educated or not, would have denounced something like the heart pacer as a scientific attempt at "playing God."

As for our destructive nature...

Armed conflicts in the world down by 40% since early 1990s.

* The number of armed conflicts are down more than 40%.
* There were 25 ongoing armed secessionist conflicts, the lowest number since 1976.
* The number of refugees in the world dropped by 45% between 1992 and 2003.
* The post WWII peace period between major powers is the longest in several hundred years.
* The average number of deaths per conflict fell 98% between 1950 and 2002 (from 38,000 people to 600 people).
* The United Kingdom and France have engaged in more international conflicts since 1946 than any other countries.

Far from perfect scores, but a good improvement nonetheless. It's wise to be cautious, but pessimism towards our mistakes and innovations is frivolous and unhelpful. There's no reason to be gloomy about our future, whether its twenty, fifty or 3 billion years from now. There is so much to hope for.