I went up to the summit today to visit Gemini (Work related), It was impressive, the Gemini dome is HUGE... The technology was cutting edge, and the results that pour from the telescope shape our view of the universe.

Humans have devoted much time and effort to build well over a billion dollars worth of telescopes on a barren volcanic peak at almost 14,000 feet above the middle of the pacific. Hundreds or thousands work to support this endevor. It builds on the work of tens of thousands, and it gives data to thousands more so the process continues. Yet we produce only data- pictures and numbers, no immediate profit comes from this data- no weapons to make us 'safer', nothing of quantifiable value. New technology comes from the many projects done on the summit.... it allows us to do and dream new things.

Driving up, I passed a very old quarry- thousands of years ago during the ice age Mauna Kea erupted when it was covered in glaciers. The lava that erupted under a glacier cooled quickly and formed a very hard stone.

Apparently, some of the original native Hawaiians sent explorers up into the hostile space of the summit- those explorers probably experienced snow for the first time in 100's of generations- they climbed over sharp stones and for the first time breathed the thin air... who knows how they explained their observations to their people? They could see the entire island- some probably tried to memorize or write maps- others looked for resources that would justify return trips to the summit. At some point one person discovered the VERY hard rock. This was a resource worth the effort to get...

So they sent 'engineers' up to the summit to make tools from the special rock... they stayed in hollows carved out of the mountain, many others transported food up to the workers- shells from their meals can still be found on the mountain quarry...

I think that the telescopes are an extension of the work of those ancient artisans- humans just struggling to understand and willing to pay a great price for knowledge.

The infrastructure required to support work on the quarry must have been immense for the ancient society- and now we spend hundreds of millions to build telescopes up there... Everyone suffers working at altitude, and a huge infrastructure makes it possible for work to be done- It is humanity coming full circle.

Some feel that the telescopes on the summit are an insult to the 'gods'... my feeling is that if there is a god, or gods, then they will be more impressed by people that spend their lives trying to understand their creation than by morons repeating memorized prayers.

(yup- as predicted this became a rambling rant)