*fluuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuush*

(the sound of $104 billion American tax dollars being thrown away on the international space station, not to mention other countries’ contributions)

The dinosaurs went extinct because their brains were as big as walnuts. The Jews are not extinct because they invented public education in 64 BC. Giving the poorest members of a marginalized communities a chance to read, write and capitalize on talent that might have otherwise been wasted as an individual slaves away at menial labour. At a time when most European kings could not even read, the Jews were preserving a rich and ancient tradition, as well as advanced concepts in mathematics, medicine and philosophy, in spite of economic and social hardship, as well as frequent violence directed at them.
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In the modern world, even in the rich countries most people don’t have access to good education, much less in the third world. Now, think of how many potential scientists are wasting away in industrial towns, poor neighbourhoods, distant rural locations and so on. If we spent the money we’ve been spending on the space program to bring educational opportunities to every person on Earth, imagine how much we could multiply our number of scientists, research medics and so on. Frankly, hundreds of thousands of well-equipped geniuses will be far more likely to fight off a potential catastrophe than some dickwads in tin cans with billion-dollar hairdryers.