Yes. Humans should start colonizing space. We have to look at this option seriously, as the next generations would not be so lucky as us. We are burning fuels, destroying the environment. It will not be long before it happens. You do not need to worry about a super volcano. Global warming poses a much greater threat.
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From the beginning, mankind has sought out different lands and different places to explore. The cradle of life is in Africa and from that moment, millions of years ago, humanity has populated the entire planet. It's no different with space colonization or exploration and in fact it may one day be a stronger allure than Earth colonization. Space is an unending frontier of new worlds and new life. Once we have the technology to travel outside our corner of the galaxy, and we will, it will draw us like no other new frontier has in the past!
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Yeah, I think so. We really should, especially since we could all die from nuclear warfare in a second, like in the cuban missile crisis, when we were so close to nuclear armageddon. Also, if we colonize the moon, we can begin to spread out and explore Mars and maybe even the other planets! We may even find a new mineral or a new resource on Mars that we can utilize to make better cars, or a better energy source.

But yeah, you're definitely right, because some day, the sun will either burn out, or expand into the earth, so we need to start inching towards finding a new solar system! Though we have millions of years before that happens, never put off what you can do today, and today we can start colonizing the moon!
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Colonising space isn't like colonising a new land here on Earth.

Think what it would take to "settle" the summit of Everest, and then multiply the cost and the effort by a million, or a billion.

The challenge is the same as with Everest - physics. Moving a hundred miles upwards just takes a heck of a lot more than moving a hundred miles along the surface of the Earth. A lot more energy, a lot more effort, and in the end a lot more money.

We may find cheaper ways to do it in the future, but it'll never be like driving to the next city, or even flying to the opposite side of the planet.

The reason we don't colonise space is the same reason not many people live on the summits of mountains. Hard to get up, hard to get back down, hard to make a living from up there.

It's been said that if the moon was covered in gold bricks, it still wouldn't be economically viable to go up there to collect it. It's just too darn expensive to get there and back.

Having said all that, in the future hopefully innovation will bring some of those costs down, and we - humanity - will be a lot richer and able to afford to experiment. When that happens, I'm all for trying to colonise space.

It might turn out to be a futile effort, like living on remote island disconnected from the rest of civilisation, or it might be the beginning of a new adventure and mass emigration. Someday it'll be worth taking the shot and finding out.

That day hasn't come yet though.

It's a pity, when I was a kid, I was looking forward to it. :)
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If we can prove it to be a healthy and happy place to make life long term successful, absolutely.
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I like the idea of colonizing on the moon. But it is so expensive and there is not much of value that is out there. We would have to bring everything up there and figure out how to create a sustainable life. It may happen some time far in the future, but I don't see it happening any time soon.
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I think there are a lot of pros and cons to colonization of other planets or celestial bodies. On one hand, you are right, it is always good to have a back up plan in the face of disaster. On the other hand, I feel like it is our duty to start finding ways to reverse or stop the damage we have already done to this planet to insure that Earth is around for a long time.
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Colonize the oceans first. Good practice for space, more resources and scientific opportunity.
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Yes We should It would set a new history in records.
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Yes, it would be extremely beneficial, especially in the case of a nuclear war, volcano, asteroid, or other disaster that affects the whole earth, but also ridiculously difficult. The best way to get started would probably be to have a long-term group of astronauts start on the moon, so they are relatively nearby should something go wrong. I think they would have to build some sort of enclosed structure and begin aquaponics (breeding large quantities of fish in smaller space, using that water to fertilize plants, sending then filtered water back to fish) to generate a sustainable source of food and oxygen. This way they would have 3/4 basic life essentials (food, water, shelter, air), and the air wouldn't escape because of the moon's low gravity.
Of course, then you run into the problem of water itself. You can't really make water, or transport enough of it from Earth to wherever we choose to colonize, and purified urine probably wouldn't appeal to most would-be colonists. So we would eventually have to move on to a different site that has a built-in water source. This will, of course, be farther from Earth and would only be advisable after we get experience by living on the moon.
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My short answer is yes, we should. and we will.

But our scientific community has to solve a lot of challenges. I hope, based on the exponential growth in technology over the past few decades, it might happen sooner (hope it happens during my life).
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