#522: Why do people research space? (4th grader)

As Dr. Tsuchiya mentioned, some space research projects have purposes such as searching for mineral resources and advancing our scientific and technological capacities. But even when there aren’t such objectives, I think that reasons like “simply because we want to know” or “because we’re curious” might also play a role. The feeling of “This is interesting! I want to know more!” is called intellectual curiosity, and I believe that intellectual curiosity has led humans to explore so many different fields. In the past, when science and technology were not so advanced, people could study things by observing animals or the movement of the moon. However, in today's age of technology, we are capable of doing far more types of research.

But I also think there are studies that make me wonder, “What’s the point of knowing more about this field?” For example, I don’t really understand the meaning or purpose behind studying deep-sea fish. What do you gain by studying deep-sea animals? But I also wonder, “What is the difference between a topic that is worth investigating and one that isn't?” That, too, is also a mystery for me. Do you think there’s a meaning or purpose in studying space? Let’s take some time to think about it.

抜粋：

なぜ人は宇宙を調査したがるのか？（小４）

ツチヤさんの言うように鉱物資源の探索や科学技術力の向上を目指す、っていう目的もあるだろうけど、そのような目的がない場合、つまり「単に知りたいから」「興味があるから」っていう理由もあるような気がする。「これ面白いな！もっと知りたい！」っていう気持ちを知的好奇心というのだけど、知的好奇心で私たち人間はいろんな分野を切り開いたと思う。科学技術がまだ発達していなかった時代は、動物や月の動きを観察したりして研究できたけど、テクノロジーが発達した今の時代はもっといろんな研究ができるね。でも「この分野についてもっと知っても意味ないんじゃない？」という研究もあるような気がする。たとえば、私には深海魚の研究の意味・目的はよくわからない。でも調査する意味のあるテーマと、研究しても意味のないテーマの違いって何だろう？それも、私にはよくわからない。君は宇宙は調査する意味があると思いますか？じっくり考えてみよう。

Disclaimers
I wrote the original post in Japanese for the Mainichi Children’s Newspaper. Read here for more information on the project. 
I generated a portion of this English translation using ChatGPT. Although I always read everything I post and add my final edits, I would like to be transparent about the translation process.