Branson and Bezos – Inspirational or Egotistical?
Like many people, human beings in Space fascinates and excites me.
I’ve paid close attention in recent years as SpaceX works on colonising Mars. Yes, we’ve got plenty of big problems to solve here on Earth, but I also think it’s important that we Sapiens set ourselves enormous, inspirational goals.
But something about the recent ‘billionaire space race’ between Richard Branson and Jeff Bezos makes me uncomfortable. Particularly when Bezos said on his return “I want to thank every Amazon employee and every Amazon customer, because you paid for all of this.” No worries, Jeff – you’re welcome.
There might be good news, however … astronauts often report feeling the ‘Overview Effect‘ when they return to Earth. Seeing the reality of our tiny home planet simply hanging in the endless void of space often results in a fundamental shift of awareness. As Dutch astronaut Wubbo Ockels put it: “In space you see you have the only one. The only planet. You have no spare.”
With a bit of luck, both Branson and Bezos might experience something similar, and begin thinking differently about how to spend the rest of their billions …
