Consider Your Context
The purpose of this assignment is to discuss the subject of the cosmic perspective as envisioned by Neil DeGrasse Tyson in a form of a research-based written paper. The rhetorical modes I will require in this essay will include is argumentative and persuasive, as it is necessary not only to convey various forms of proof but also to present one’s own opinion through a thesis. The expected audience for the essay would be students as well as teachers, both groups consisting of individuals with an academic background. The background information to be provided in the essay would include that of Neil DeGrasse Tyson, to explain why the audience should listen to his opinion, as well as mine, to highlight why my take is worthy of consideration. As this essay is intended for academic audiences, I would require peer-reviewed articles and books to support my claims. My stance on the topic is that the cosmic perspective cannot be embraced by everyone, and waiting to fix the world’s problems so that everyone can embrace them later would be waiting too long.
I feel excited about the topic and the assignment, as I am a strong proponent of space exploration and embracing the stars. My viewpoint towards the subject is rooted in the literature I studied before, including history, politics, economics, and human psychology, in relation to cosmic research. The assignment seems reasonably straightforward and can be completed by the deadline or in under a month. It can be completed in due time or earlier by dedicating 1-2 hours a day to it.
Narrow Your Focus
The definition of the topic is as follows:
- Consideration of how humanity can embrace a cosmic perspective while dealing with various issues and problems that it has as a whole.
Narrowing down the topic:
- Is it morally or practically right to dedicate time and considerable resources to learning about space when there are many people hungry, sick, homeless, and being terrorized and killed in the name of God, resources, and politics?
Questions to Be Researched
- What is the cosmic perspective of the world?
- When will it be possible for everyone to embrace the cosmic perspective?
- Where are the societal issues most acute at this moment?
- Who is suffering the most because of the injustices of our current system?
- How would it be possible to alleviate all suffering so humanity could focus on exploring space?
- Would it take too much time and effort to achieve it?
- Could it be possible to achieve space exploration without solving the world’s problems first?
- Should we solve these problems?
Draft a Tentative Thesis Statement
Adopting a cosmic perspective of the world is impossible so long as there is poverty, war, and neglect around the world, but that should not stop us from exploring space. While everyone getting on board with space exploration would greatly increase the progress humanity makes in studying the universe and becoming space-worthy, it is an impossible task.
Identifying and Summarizing Scholarly Sources
Schuller, Mark. Humanity’s Last Stand: Confronting Global Catastrophe. Rutgers University Press, 2021.
Schuller’s book focuses on the environmental and resource issues that are going to be faced by the human race in the near future. These include pollution, mass shortages of potable water, fuel crisis, energy crisis, global warming, climate change, and so forth. It also touches upon how it will affect humanity, with an emphasis that societal inequality is likely to increase, as the most vulnerable populations will be affected the most (Schuller 21). Overpopulation is another problem discussed by Schuller, projecting that by 2070 the world’s population will be over 10 million, creating additional pressures on space, employment, and resource consumption (Schuller 72).
This source will be used in the essay as a basis to highlight the magnitude of humanity’s problems being faced right now. The point to be made is that despite humanity objectively living in the best century of its history so far, is still far from being perfect. An additional point it will support is that fixing all of these problems will take centuries, and there is no guarantee of success. Overall, the issues described in the book will set upon humanity much sooner than is required to address them.
Jakhu, Ram S., et al. Space Mining and its Regulation. Springer International Publishing, 2017.
Jakhu et al. explore the concept of space mining as a means for humanity to obtain the resources it will eventually need once the natural once would either run out or become economically unsustainable to extract (9). The book covers a variety of technological initiatives already being undertaken by the US, Russia, China, Europe, and other space-worthy nations. According to Jakhu et al., the estimated projections of humanity developing technologies for mining space asteroids is about 50-70 years, which is comparable to when the Earth’s resources are expected to be depleted (Jakhu et al. 74).
This source highlights the importance of space exploration and space programs to alleviate Earth’s growing needs for fuel, minerals, metals, materials, and potable water, among others. The projections about those elements being found in space are good – the number of C, S, and M-type asteroids found within the Solar System is enough to potentially supply Earth with most of the necessary materials for the next several hundred years (Jakhu et al. 34). The point of including this source is to support the thesis that humanity does not have the time nor capacity to solve all of the world’s problems now, and that the cosmic perspective will have to be carried on by the few, rather than the many, for the survival of the human race.
Levchenko, Igor, et al. “Mars Colonization: Beyond Getting There.” Global Challenges, vol. 3, no. 1, 2019, pp. 1-10.
Levchenko et al. talk about Mars colonization and issues of sustaining a living colony beyond simply getting the people and technology to the surface. Some of the potential problems he highlighted included the potential of being hit on the surface by space debris and asteroids, and the difficulty of sustained living without being supplied from Earth, including food, water, and oxygen generation (Levchenko et al. 5). He discusses how some of these challenges can be overcome by extracting potential elements from underneath Mars’s surface and theorizes that Mars soil could be potentially made fit for agriculture (Levchenko et al. 10).
This source addresses the practical implications of Mars exploration and colonization. It highlights the issues that space agencies that have adopted the cosmic perspective should be working on. There is the potential of overcoming these difficulties, thus paving the way for humanity’s first colony outside of Earth.
Kovic, Marko. “Risks of Space Colonization.” Futures, vol. 126, 2021, pp. 102-138.
The final source by Kovic highlights the dangers of space colonization, which would introduce new risks that could potentially make the venture less attractive to investors, scientists, and governments. Some of the risks he highlighted include prioritization, aberration, and conflict risks (Kovic 105). Additional issues as highlighted by Kovic (107) include moral issues, as from the perspective of different cultures, space colonization may have different priorities.
This source can be used to support the main argument, as Kovic (102) states that space colonization is still the best survival strategy. However, it can also be used to support the promotion of the cosmic imperative, as the acceptance of space exploration as necessary is required to gather public support.