Are We Treating Mars as an Academic Exercise?

I think 2025 wasn't just optimistic, arguably full. I was among the many who wanted to believe that it was going to happen. But like you say, 2040, 2040s is more realistic. You ask a big question in the book. Do we treat our exploration of Mars as an academic exercise? Is it something we need to do in order to know our home better? Are we intending to use Mars as a first step on our way to moving our nascent space-faring civilization out of the fragile basket that currently holds all of our eggs? Or is it simply a place to exploit a land grab for pristine real estate? Which of those things do you think it is?