[…] However exciting, I don’t think space exploration is at all practical. No matter how smart MC Hawking may be, any earth worth leaving is unlikely to be able to support the evacuation of any but a tiny elite of humans. Frankly, I think the world, the universe, myself, and anyone statistically likely to be descended from me are all almost completely unlikely to benefit in any material way from space exploration. It’s nice and all, but not for the cost, and particularly not if it affects the budget of NASA’s useful projects. […]