Although I was raised as a strict Irish-style Roman Catholic, after many years of deep thought, I am now an atheist, humanist, rationalist and sceptic, and have come to the conclusion that this is the most important unanswered philosophical question. I do not believe there is any need to postulate a creator, because belief in a creator god leads to the obvious next questions of who or what made god, and who or what made who or what made god, and so on indefinitely.
The recent discovery of water on Mars has brought into perspective that a manned mission may contaminate the results of any discovery of life. Perchlorates and cosmic radiation are still barriers to a lengthy mission. Is it more important to have realistic expectations of Mars or a vision of solving problems to which we do not yet have answers?
Some countries use a year of compulsory military service as a rite of passage for young adults. Looking at our 18 year olds today, some might say we need to bring in this kind of enforced ‘gap year’ for the good of the individual and of our whole society. And of course, it would strengthen the country militarily to have a national service corps. But at what cost? Would this be worth it?