Suppose engineers are able to build a space elevator within the next 40 years, would you enter the elevator on the ground floor and press the button for floor 100,000?

This is a social question and I’d like to start a thoughtful discussion about space elevators and explore the idea.

From Wikipedia: A space elevator is a proposed megastructure designed to transport material from a celestial body’s surface into space. The term most often refers to a structure that reachs from the surface of the Earth to geosynchronous orbit. The most common proposal is a tether, usually in the form of a cable or ribbon, spanning from the surface to a point beyond geosynchronous orbit. As the planet rotates, the inertia at the end of the tether counteracts gravity, and also keeps the cable taut. Vehicles can then climb the tether and get in orbit without the use of rocket propulsion. Such a structure could theoretically permit delivery of cargo and people to orbit at a fraction of the cost of launching a payload into orbit, and without the substantial environmental harm caused by some rocket fuels.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_elevator

A suitable material for the tether might be made of carbon nanotubes which are several factors stronger than steel. They can’t be produced in large quantities today.

What are your thoughts about space elevators? Are they a realistic alternative to rockets and space shuttles?