The Ocean of Dreams: Science Fiction, History and Space Exploration (en)

Eden Kupermintz Humans have always been pioneers. Discovering,
exploring and conquering new places and frontiers is an inherent
part of the story we tell about ourselves. This narrative has
fueled both personal aspirations and multi-national ones, often
enlisting thousands of work-hours and billions of dollars in
budget. No matter how far human society has come, we still like to
think of ourselves as liminal pioneers, obsessed with the search
for the next (and, perhaps, final) frontier.  All of this in
the search of the ultimate unknown, the unknown which contains all
other unknowns: space. Space exploration is, by definition, the
ultimate frontier.. How will exploration and exploitation of this
frontier work? What will it look like and how will we take part in
it? Science fiction seems to be the place to look for answers. The
literary genre has always been obsessed with a journey to the
stars. It has imagined countless visions of this journey, some
optimistic and some bleak. But how can we know which vision is the
most likely one? Is there a way for us to create more accurate
models for how space exploration might work? We might be
able to do that by joining science fiction with history. History
can tell us how things might be by looking at how comparable
things actually were. it can sift through the different models
which science fiction offers us and speculate on which one sounds
most likely, the most insightful or the most interesting.  The
closest historical endeavor to space exploration is the
exploration of the ocean. Whether we're talking about the so-called
"Age of Explorations" or journeys which took place prior to it or
after it, the ocean has always been a key factor in accelerating
technological advance, breaking apart and rebuilding social
structures and capturing the imagination of humans, wherever they
are.  Therefore, my talk will mostly focus on examining past
models of oceanic exploration for clues as to the coming forms of
space exploration. By looking at organizations which fuelled
oceanic trade, exploration and exploitation I will attempt to model
the organizations which will fuel space exploration. By
examining economical models which made oceanic exploration
possible, I'll try and theorize economical models which are likely
to be necessary for space exploration. In using historical
precedence, I'll attempt to ask one of the most important questions
presented to humanity today: how will we go to space and how will
we make it our own?