“Our passion for learning… is our tool for survival.” – Carl Sagan

In the modern age a multitude of threat affect our collective existential crises. Prospective pandemics, global warming, the threat of nuclear war, and an ever-increasing population are causing scientists to further probe the possibilities of moving away from our home planet. It appears many believe we should be looking to move elsewhere. But where? George Freeman remains encouraged by the possibility of life beyond planet earth. Reportedly, the most obvious option is our closed planetary sibling, Mars. Still in its conceptual phase, Mars One, based in Holland, is a comparatively modest relative to its ambition. Mars One endeavors to send humans to Mars for colonization. They hope to incorporate scientists with the public this goal. On the Mars One website they state, “Mars One is a global initiative whose goal is to make this everyone’s mission to Mars, including yours.”

Inclusion under a common goal is a core value of George’s life mission. His purpose transcends the daily quarrels and seems to echo the sentiment for Mars One. The Monastery, in his words was, “A place that believes in the survival of its congregation, on this planet and far away.”

The Monastery, in his words was, “A place that believes in the survival of its congregation, on this planet and far away.”

Freeman believes that, “We live in an age of divisive religious beliefs, and fear is used as an influential tool by militant religious organizations.” With respect to contemporary politics and religion in the U.S., Freeman is not alone in his thinking. The late Stephen Hawking denounced political leaders regularly for pulling out of the Paris Agreement, a multinational agreement dedicated to tackling climate change. Hawking’s warned gravely, “We have given our planet the disastrous gift of climate change … When we have reached similar crises, there has usually been somewhere else to colonize … But there is no new world, no utopia around the corner… We are running out of space, and the only places to go to are other worlds.”

As George eloquently states, “We are all born with innate creativity. From the cradle to the grave human beings are compelled to explore. To date, we have explored most of the world’s oceans, mountains, and forests. Now, we must look to the last great unexplored frontier: space.”

On April 12, 2016, Russian billionaire Yuri Milner gave $100 million to the organization SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence). Thus, the Breakthrough Starshot initiative was born, an organization that endeavors to send ant-sized intergalactic probes at 20% the speed of light to scout exoplanets, potentially finding ones that would be able to harbor life.

These are just the seeds of where humanity could end up. With technological process from the scientific community, past and present, and sentiments from the philosophical, humanist and spiritual communities, humanity may indeed find itself realizing the true potential of life beyond Earth. As George eloquently states, “We are all born with innate creativity. From the cradle to the grave human beings are compelled to explore. To date, we have explored most of the world’s oceans, mountains, and forests. Now, we must look to the last great unexplored frontier: space.”