Stereotypes

Tom Smith at The Right Coast links this article about a Mom who is worried about the fact that she and her sons have different interests. I know, I know, quite the shocker. The boys seem to have become interested in space and astronomy and she wonders how she should handle it given her ...disinterest, let's say. He covers the silliness of the whole thing pretty well but this gem by the Mom at the end of her article caught my eye:

Maybe he'll be a rebel astronomer, and someday reform NASA, or call for an end to manned space missions so that the money can be used to fix Social Security? A mother can dream.

Talk about your stereotypes. I cringed when I read it - how insulting to mothers. Aside from all the practical inventions that arose from our push into space, there's also the huge advances in the sciences: physics, math, astronomy etc. that have come directly from the space program. Our knowledge of the world and the universe has increased immensely because we have pushed at the limits of our current understanding of how-things-work. And I have no doubt she would have written the same thing 50 years ago, advances be damned. At least she seems to realize the irony of worrying about her sons thinking women don't like science when she wants to throw future scientific advances away for... social security.

Sigh.

Never mind the fact that NASA's entire budget is about $20 billion and the annual budget for Social Security is $644 billion. That's about 3% if you're keeping score at home. Not to mention the unfunded liability of Social Security, which is $17.5 trillion.

Just think what we could do on this planet with all the time and energy we spend trying to reach other ones.

Mmm, yeah, not as much as you might think. You'd be amazed how fast those great social programs can suck down the cash. Almost like... black holes...

To cleanse the unscientific air: NASA's Alien Eyes
















 Or check out the gallery at Hubble.