Why do we travel into the depths of jungles, the deep ocean, and inhospitable deserts, and wretchedly cold mountaintops, to show ourselves only to some (animals) or to no one at all! .... and in such a brief way?

Because we want to know, that's why! ;-) We want to go where we haven't been and see what's there. That doesn't mean we stay for very long.

When a scientist or an avian hobbyist goes to the jungle to look at birds, he doesn't show himself to every damn bird in the whole jungle! He looks at a few birds, his curiosity is satisfied, his data is written down, some photos are taken, and then he leaves.

Gosh! It just isn't plausible, is it? ;-D

If one can travel hundreds of light years, that would mean thousands of possible planets to visit. Maybe hundreds of thousands of possible planets. Maybe millions. How long would one spend looking at each one? Well, maybe not long, but one would probably be most interesting in those places that had observable forms of life on them, I would think.

Why is it so hard to understand why others would do what we would do immediately...if we only had the capability to. We don't at present. All we've managed to do is to go very briefly to the Moon and to put some little unmanned vehicles on or near a few other nearby planets.

We're rank beginners at space travel. Yet many people seem to think we're the only ones doing it. That is what just isn't plausible.