Everyone makes plans. All plans involve taking an action in the expectation of achieving results at some future time. We order food at a restaurant and expect immediate delivery. We purchase food at the grocery store in anticipation of a week’s needs. In our basement, a freezer gently hums; keeping food edible for months at a time. Farmers inseminate enough cows each year to ensure a sufficient number of animals can be slaughtered when they mature. Geneticists and breeders plot bloodlines over generations in the hope of maximizing a given attribute.

Each of these plans involve an objective that can be evaluated. Garnering enough food enables the continuation of life. Can civilization have an objective? If it doesn’t we can be fairly certain that we will achieve nothing of note. We have accomplished noteworthy objectives. Putting men on our Moon wasn’t serendipitous but the result of a plan followed-up by hard work.

A plan for the future of civilization isn’t necessary if we could guarantee its future. But once we’ve exhausted the supply of non-renewable energy resources, the future of our technically advanced civilization isn’t guaranteed. Relying on serendipity is tantamount to giving up. On the other hand, plenty of stores of energy remain and our Sun should continue shining with the same intensity for billions of years. We have the ability to formulate a plan and try to achieve it. What sort of objective should our civilization have? Is survivability a sufficient objective?