A closer look
Why settle for a metaphorical heaven when you can just scientifically build one in outer space? Nikolai Fedorov, a 19th-century Russian mystic, founded Cosmism. He believed it was humanity's spiritual duty to conquer death. But he didn't stop there—he argued we also had to resurrect every single human being who had ever lived using advanced science. Recognizing that Earth would get a bit crowded with billions of zombies, he naturally concluded that we needed to develop space travel to colonize the cosmos and house our resurrected ancestors. Mysticism, meet early sci-fi.
