Curiosity comes in micro and macro forms. Micro curiosity is reflected in the investigation of our bodies, organs, cells and the DNA that instructs each cell to do its appointed task, as well as the probing and splitting of the atom. This is called “research.” Macro curiosity is demonstrated by the Earth-bound expeditions of Columbus, Lewis and Clark and Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay, and by space voyagers such as the crew of Columbia. This we call “exploration.”
Both have serious risks. The risks inherent in research are less obvious, but nonetheless real. Medical researchers fall victim to the ills they attempt to cure and physicists succumb to the radioactivity and the other forces they attempt to harness. The risks of exploration, particularly in space, are more palpable since explorers travel in an alien environment. Space explorers must depend on a maze of complex, interdependent systems to stay alive and to return them safely home. Space is unforgiving-it permits no errors.
Why, then, do they continue to risk their lives? When asked they invariably answer that they must. If there is an unknown they must try to know it. The “Because it’s there” answer to the question “Why climb Mt. Everest?” is not a fatuous answer. It reflects a rare but essential quality of humankind that has enabled our species to survive and flourish. The curiosity that impels research and exploration permits us to move forward. Movement is life. Stagnation is atrophy and death. Those few who possess this quality are the guarantors of our future. The vast majority of us who are the followers owe them much. This debt can be repaid by employing the fruits of their heroic efforts in such a manner so as to make this a safer and more peaceful world.
Henry Pollard