Top 10 Reasons To Live On Another Planet

Let’s face it: disaster movies exist for a reason. Besides being achievements in technical wizardry, such films are intended to illustrate how fragile life on Earth can be – and how quickly it can all end. While it may be far-fetched for an asteroid to come crashing down, like in the 1998 film “Armageddon”, it’s not impossible. Thus, moving from Earth to a new planet would allow humanity to escape such an unpredictable catastrophe – theoretically, anyway.

Everyone wants a second chance at one point or another. With the advent of space travel and the possibility of colonizing other worlds, such a possibility becomes open to us all. We as a species could set up shop on a new planet, in the process rebuilding society from the ground up. No more would the human race have political and social strife; instead, this new society would focus on constant improvement, ensuring future generations don’t have to pay for the sins of their ancestors.

Whether out of fear or intrigue, many people wonder about the nature of extraterrestrial life. They ask questions such as “Do aliens really exist?”, “Are they friendly to other races?”, “How technologically advanced is their culture?”, “Do they even possess a culture?”, and so forth. Should humanity successfully colonize a new planet, it opens the door for us to venture further into the galaxy to find answers to these questions. And really, who doesn’t want to know if aliens exist... and if they do indeed probe people?

With a new world comes opportunity, and with opportunity comes industry. Various works of fiction speculate that should we pursue space travel, inevitably we will begin to develop new industries from which to earn money – along the lines of the Con Am 27 titanium ore mining facility from “Outland”. The money earned from such pursuits could benefit further expansion, to say nothing of the good it could do for Earth’s own economy.

Science is a magnificent thing – and it’d be nice for science to be recognized as such. Making the effort to live on new worlds means that the next generation will grow up with stories of technical ingenuity and human drive. It also means that science will become prioritized, both because of its importance to space travel and because the resulting technologies have common applications. A more scientifically-driven and curious society is something to aspire towards, since it means there’s hope for the future yet.

Exploration is a central component of human existence, and it’s even more significant here. Throughout history, humanity has sought to explore uncharted territories and learn what they could purely out of curiosity. Combined with a desire to prove that space colonization can be done, this drives a lot of science fiction – such as the five-year voyage of the Starship Enterprise in “Star Trek” - and will likely be part of why humanity attempts to establish roots on a new world.

With new pursuits come new technologies. Working towards life on a new world will require certain technological advancements: atmosphere control, agricultural development, a plentiful supply of food and water. Having the goal of space travel and colonization in mind will allow us to focus time, energy, and resources into developing the necessary equipment for living on other worlds. In turn, all the technology developed can be reused or implemented elsewhere; after all, radar technology from World War II did lead to the development of the microwave. The sky’s the limit.

Being an increasingly consumptive race, we’re constantly wary of our world’s limits. Precious metals and minerals won’t last forever, oil is becoming more and more scarce, and fresh water is disturbingly close to disappearing. New planets would potentially have untapped natural reserves for humanity to enjoy and plentiful resources with which to restore stability to our collective societies. While the risks are great, the promise of more resources from which to draw is far more powerful.

Humanity is expanding to a ridiculous degree, which is something experts are increasingly taking note of. Some countries face issues of severe overcrowding and the difficulty of implementing population control, with the rest of the world not that far behind. We are collectively in need of a way to spread out the human populace, which could very easily be rectified with off-world colonies. Should the population of the Earth continue to expand, space travel would permit world governments to move a portion of people onto other worlds – or perhaps offer incentives for anyone willing to voluntarily travel off-planet.

Before we unveil our top pick, here are a few honorable mentions:
- Weightlessness and Differences in Gravity Would Be Fun
- No Undesirables
- Taking in the Scenery of a New Planet or Space

The end is nigh... or at least, it’s uncomfortably close. Factoring in issues of depleting resources and the threats of global warming and pollution, Earth is threatened with absolute devastation that will leave it incapable of supporting life one day. This, more than anything, is the key reason to leave Earth: we’d have a fighting chance to survive and perhaps thrive on other worlds. Staying here means risking the end of humanity, a fate we sincerely want to avoid.

Do you agree with our list? Why would you want to live on another planet? For more interstellar Top 10s published daily, be sure to subscribe to WatchMojo.com.