About being Na'vi, I think that's a good way of putting it... I don't say I actually AM Na'vi, but I do say that Pandora is my true home and that perhaps, somehow, I SHOULD have been. Huge difference there.

I think that as far as space goes, any species that reaches that stage will be more likely to actually have 'woken up' to their problems due to the effort and coordination required... At the moment, it's looking like not even the USA can afford proper space exploration any more.
It is 41 years since we went to the moon... We have not gone any further. We haven't even been back :'(
There are innumerable benefits to space... but we will need to all work together to reach then :(

Ah, yeah I know that theory. There are two theories actually. On says, that "we" have to wake up first, meaning change our political system and economy etc before space travel should be aspired and another that says that the very process of developing space travel will eventually (maybe only once successful) lead to a change in these things.

I used to think along these lines, always favouring the change first - spacetravel later apporach, but my thinking has changed a lot. And the recent advances in "private" space operations do not really give me slack there. I mean obviously the states cannot sum up the money anymore to even go to the moon. But private investors now can - so what will spacetravel be like if it is Bill Gates, BP and Monsanto that sponsor space exploration projects? You could write "RDA" instead right away :(

The sad thing is, that a competitive hierarchical society with all the pressure it puts on people is more likely to reach large goals faster and finish huge projects faster than a cooperative, egalitarian society that cares more about the people in it. Its a bit like quick and dirty instead of slow and wise. Of course, no one can know what alien societies would be like and if they would even have this kind of systems - maybe they are all like bees or all lone wolves - but these principles seem to me to not depend too much on the actual lifeform. And if they are true, then alien societies with a more opressive, competitive system are faster in reaching space travel than societies on the same planet that focus on other values.
For humans it seems to be like that - capitalism just worked faster in producing the required technologies than communism, private ventures may very well have the advantage over state run projects in the future...
"The best one wins" does not mean at all that "best" is also wise or ethical, it is in most cases simply the fastest and/or most efficient one - or the one that is best at throwing rocks at the opponents.

...you do know that Bill Gates is good, right? He gives insane amounts of money to very good causes :P
I'd also hope that we still haven't reached the stage where companies are given a near-government level of power... maybe it does happen in america, but not really elsewhere... That's a good thing and something which should stay like that.

As for pressure, yes, it's more likely to produce results in the short term, but as society is so fragmented, nobody can bring the resources of the entire planet to bear on any truly important projects such as proper space exploration, or even fully developing resources such as solar or geothermal energy.
Communism is not the answer either, if anything it is worse because there is NO drive to improve, to do anything more than the bare minimum, to sit in your predefined box and do what you're told.
As with most things, the answer lies somewhere between the two.

Not quite sure if this was sarcasm or not.. I hope it was.

Companies control the world. That's a fact. It happens in America, it happens everywhere else as well. It doesn't mean your government is a bunch of idiots, it means their hands are tied. As long as this economy is dependent on continuous growing, the companies will do what they need to do to keep the money coming into not only their own hands, but to the country they work in too.

yes :( i really hope we can

The trouble is, that people have lost control - over corporations (not even the CEOs can really turn around the course of action in a stock market corporation) and over technology as well. Its a bit crazy. Governments (as much as I hate them) do have the power to take on corporations, but the weapons of corporations increase and possibly have reached a level that is hard to combat. Their main weapon is globalization, allowing them to say "you want more taxes and better worker rights and more environmental protection? Well, we'll go to Chine/Chile/Namibia, they welcome us more than you. See how you deal with 10000 people who loose their jobs!" and the typical reaction then is to bow to them. In USA, they even managed to get hold of the final weapon of the government to stop them - military and investigative services. A country that has outsourced its military power to private investors really has lost control.

i wouldnt leave everythings behind right now.. i got a person i really love :i!

....

May I say that 'fictional' doesn't necessarily mean 'non existent'. The Na'vi were brought to us from someone's imagination, thus making them fictional.

If you don't want me to bring basic logic into an argument, just say so.

Yes, I would in a heartbeat. Wouldn't even think twice about it :)

yes i would no doubt.

Must... find.. the other.. Munefables... >.>

yes, i would leave verything behind just to go live on pandora, i love the bioluminesence of the night :D

yea :) that would be a good dream ! i would to.. but first when i die, you kno, when i get old :)!

I definatly would.