When Woody, the cowboy from Toy Story 2, is shocked to discover that a television show featuring himself was canceled following a cliffhanger (an all too familiar sensation nowadays), he is met with a curt response. Prospector Pete tells him, “Two words, Sput-nik. Once the astronauts went up, children only wanted to play with space toys”.
This movie premiered 25 years ago in 1999 and today it seems like space toys are still popular, but for a very different demographic. Where the turn of the century was characterized by boyish optimism racing around the bedroom with Buzz Lightyear in hand, a quieter trend was also emerging within a smaller demographic with a lot more money. Billionaires began to realize that they didn’t need to wait for a state-sponsored shuttle to the stars, they could just build their own. The “billionaire space race” was born, with three key players leading the pack - Jeff Bezos and his company Blue Origin, Richard Branson of Virgin Group, and Elon Musk with SpaceX. That’s right, not only do these three men have an aversion to remaining faithful to their first wives, they also really want to explore and capitalize on the cosmos.
Psychologists have actually studied this phenomenon of billionaires and their shared desire to explore space, and many believe it is a result of a certain degree of separation from reality that comes with extreme wealth. Their research demonstrates that wealth and power are ultimately an unsatisfying end goal, and those that have maxed out their pursuit of what money can buy are left still unfulfilled, choosing to fill that empty space inside them…with outer space [1]. The final frontier becomes the ideal physical and metaphorical vacuum for those who have run out of corporate ladders to climb, offering the prospect of other-worldly glamour and fame all in the name of “scientific progress”.
In order to better understand what is going on in the heads of our off-brand Tony Starks, it is helpful to turn to what neuroscience says about power. Recent research indicates that key neural processes responsible for experiencing empathy actually physically deactivate when we see ourselves as being superior to the people around us [2]. Professor of Psychology Dacher Keltner has coined this reality the “power paradox”, stating that after we gain the positions of power that we seek, we can actually start to lose the very traits that got us there in the first place [3]. It is a disturbing thought that the people we revere for their innovation and ingenuity can actually lose their capacity to empathize and relate to others as a result of our own adoration. Far be it from me to diagnose anyone from a distance, but it seems very possible that the draw of space to America’s most wealthy citizens is that it can continue to enable the addictive and destructive drug of power without the pesky requirement of directly engaging with too many people or a need to connect with them and practice empathy.
I want to be abundantly clear that I am not opposed to space exploration, quite the opposite. In 2022 I had the incredible opportunity to work at the World’s Fair in Dubai where I often spent time promoting America’s contributions to understanding outer space. NASA had even loaned the U.S. pavilion where I worked a piece of the moon collected during the last Apollo mission in 1972, which became a highlight for the guests that visited us [4]. I loved watching people from all over the world light up as they were able to touch something from outer space for the first time, and were united in a childlike sense of wonder about the worlds beyond ours. What I am ultimately opposed to is making the idea of space inaccessible and limiting innovations in space travel to be just another milestone for the wealthy rather than an accomplishment that can be shared collectively.
Perhaps Neil Armstrong was prophetic in his declaration that the moon landing was “one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind,” exemplifying space exploration as a means of collective progress over individualistic pride. Even though America’s billionaire club has the power to explore space as they please, we cannot let them control the narrative of space travel and make dreaming of the stars a status symbol. It should instead be a means of profound connection that can serve as a tool of unity rather than division. After all, the most fortunate part of space exploration is not to reach the stars, but to have someone to celebrate with when we get there.
