Abstract EANA2025-30

The theory of cultural evolution gives humanity a tool to frame cultural ‘decisions’ as evolutionary steps in a changing environment. Existential threats are the litmus test of such a changing environment. Evolutionary success shows itself by overcoming such threats. A theory of cultural evolution helps us understand social reactions toward these challenges within a biological and sociological framework. Space exploration can be understood as the solution as well as a problem for humanity’s challenges, just like adaptation to an environment and the environment itself drive biological evolution in all species. The survival of our species and Earth’s biosphere is threatened by multiple sources of danger, among them several from outer space. One solution is to expand and settle on other planets, another would be planetary defense and environmental protection. Both have culturally many negative connotations, the first with the term “colonization”, even though in biology this concept is applied regularly for understanding population of new habitats, even understood as critical for the survival of a species. The second concept is culturally challenged as endangering societal and technological progress and impinging on individual freedoms. We want to argue that the concept of cultural evolution may need to be reassessed in light of the particular challenges of outer space and its cultural exploration, be it on or off Earth as argued above. Current societal discourse is not wholly convinced that the survival of humanity is a priority. Arguing from within cultural evolution may pose convincing arguments for a more focused view of long term survival on Earth by either moving off planet or more consequelntially work on biological sustainability on Earth - especially when recognizing that no other planet can replace Earth and so many other problems exist that have to be resolved on Earth.