Just for a moment, imagine that you are a first-class passenger on a huge spaceship traveling at the speed of 100,000 kilometers per hour. You discover that the ship's environmental system is faulty. Some passengers are dying due to poisonous gasesin their oxygen supply. Also, there is a serious shortage of provisions- food supplies are being used up and the water supply is rapidly becoming polluted due to breakdowns in the waste and propulsion systems.
In the economy sections passengers are crowded together. Conditions are bad, especially for children. Many are seriously ill. The ship's medical officers are able to help few of the sick and medicines are in short supply. Mutinies and fighting have been reported in some sections. Hopefully the violence can be contained, but there is fear that the violence may spread to other compartments.
The spacecraft has an overall destruct system, with the controls carefully guarded by a special technical crew. Unfortunately, the number of technologists who know how to set off the destruct system has increased, and there is great concern over what might happen if the fighting does spread. We could go on, but the point is: What would you do if you were on that spaceship? Now that you have imagined, are you ready to face reality? You are on such a spaceship right now- Spaceship Earth!
Preface from Earth, Our Crowded Spaceship, by Isaac Asimov
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