You may as well argue Columbus out of crossing the Atlantic or the Polynesians out of crossing the Pacific. Humans will fill every island and every frozen coast. Indeed every species does this. Mammals act out of curiosity not just safety and do so for an evolutionary reason.

So the first question is will it be our civilization or another. The second is will you see it or not. The third: why delay the benefits.

But the biggest question is this: is the point of life merely to be a safe, comfortable and predicable at all costs or is it to devote at least some resources to seeking out challenges, knowledge and unknowable benefits.

Also there's a false dichotomy in your words. That hypothetical billion price tag for a Zika cure could be fully funded by a 20% tax on ice cream. Should we give up the space program just to eat a few more scoops of ice cream, smoke a few more cigarettes buy a bit more makeup?