you know i tried that, but i couldn't find a latter long enough to reach the moon..

heehee neighborhood watch.

I bought a pair of binoculars to attend football games at Sears about 20 years ago…and they are fantastic for sporting events.
Sometimes when you can't stand closer such as in a football stadium,it feels like you are right on the field with the players and get a much better view.
I had a telescope when I was younger for star gazing,and watching the moon,many hours of enjoyment were attained from that experience.

people like to see the distant objects out of curiosity

The whole point of binoculars and telescopes are that they can be used when you CANT get closer to the thing you want to see!!

Binoculars are used in bird watching or watching animals because if you stood right next to it staring at the poor creature you'd scare it and it would run/fly away leaving you with very little to watch!

Binoculars are used in theatres or for watching sporting events because if you sat yourself on the stage at a concert or on the pitch in a football game you might annoy a few people.

Telescopes are used for looking into the sky at planets and stars primarily because being sometimes millions of light years away, it is quite difficult to "stand closer" to them.

Hope this answers your question!

Ahh, you underestimate the lure of being plain ol nosy.