You're missing the point. Imagination and creativity are more important than an adrenaline rush. Skydiving is nothing. Spelunking is cool, but still does not negate imagination and creativity. The Arts & Sciences are what makes us human.
To you. To you. To you. Walking upright, opposable thumbs, a well developed neocortex, prefrontal cortex and temporal lobes and being a human are what make us human. Don't hold the whole species to to your standards, you're doing the rest of us a disservice.
Ah, but sci-fi fans are THINKERS and DREAMERS. There is nothing more noble on the face of the planet. </sarcasm>
I know a lot of smart, compassionate, artistic people who have somehow, shockingly, become who they are without watching Star Trek or reading Isaac Asimov.
I would say that was showing interest on the part of the girl. She wanted him to convert because that was the only way her family would accept him. Or how else are you interpreting it?
One of the defining traits of humans is that we're explorers. Spelunkers have made some amazing discoveries.
"What makes us human" is pure Roddenberry aggrandizing tripe. IOW, very very big tripe What makes us human is that is our species and we cannot be more or less human no matter what we do or don't do, value or don't value. Sure Arts and Sciences are cool but so is the entire rest of people's interests and endeavors.
Seriously? That's very disappointing. I know we're not living in a very romantic age, but that's a sad statement to see on a board ostensibly inspired by the imagination and creativity of SF. Certainly. That would be the Arts & Sciences. Exploring is inspired by imagination and curiosity.
Of what use is creativity and imagination - of what use is a dream - except as a blueprint for courageous action?
Different people value different things. For what it's worth I think you're spot on. Intellectual muscle > sensational pleasure any day of the week.
But if there's one thing I've learned, it's that people really hate being told that their way of life is inferior to yours. It really sets them off - whether you're speaking the truth or not.
Seriously? It's a board inspired by a TV show. Much like this or this. We all like Star Trek, that doesn't make us unique and special snowflakes.
Yes, exploration is inspired by those two things. But it's also inspired by other things. I doubt some of the European explorers had art and science on their minds when they went to North and South America. Some of them went to escape difficult lives in Europe. Some came to convert people to the Church. Others came for sheer greed - they wanted gold, gems, furs, anything to make them rich. As for art... they destroyed an incredible amount of art and writings set down by artistic, literate people. This is a cultural treasure that the human race will never recover, unless somebody, someday, invents a time machine to go back and record what was there before it was destroyed. I've never been a spelunker, so I can't say from personal experience what motivates them. From documentaries, curiosity looks to be the common motive among them. Many are scientists in various fields. And one of the things I've noticed is that they bring back fantastic photos and video and some of them have been quite eloquent in describing the beauty of what they've seen. There aren't many people on the planet who will be able to experience this for themselves, since it's a really difficult thing to get to these caves. So I think you do a disservice by dismissing people like spelunkers. I don't know how many of them may also have an interest in SF/F, but they do have a definite eye for Nature's beauty.
The point is that you were trying to slap a definition of what "humanity" is that pretty much discards anyone that isn't an artist or an intellectual. We're all human. The artists, the scientists, the athletes, the thrll seekers, the lazy bum who lives in the gutter...every single one of us is human. There is nothing about Art that makes it inherently more "human" than skydiving.
^Totally totally agree. Now if you want to argue that art has more value, sure have at it. I won't necessarily agree but most of us have a scale in our mind of value we give interests and pursuits. However there is no way it is more human.