Crime and Insanity - What to do about it.

Phobos · 2002-05-31 15:18:14

Ack, I'd just have a nice assortment of birth control options on board if some people can't control their urges, I don't think we need to start screwing with people's bodies in such a drastic way. Anyways, isolation no doubt will play a big role. It's pretty well documented how people often go out of their minds from the isolation of Antartic bases during the winter. They don't often go totally insane, but they do often start doing strange things.

Palomar · 2002-05-31 15:23:15

"I think as a matter of course all Mars astronauts should have their appendix's removed...It might also be wise to remove tonsils.

It's a very brutal way to treat humans, but it is practical. Maybe save on some mass and weight...

Any other parts we can do with out?"

*Good ideas, and it gave me a chuckle as well.

--Cindy

Phobos · 2002-05-31 15:49:26

So does anyone here volunteer to under go castration or a hysterectomy so they can go to Mars? :0

clark · 2002-06-03 05:16:43

Actually, just to clarify, the suggestion for removal and storage of reproductive parts is more in terms of providing alternatives for the astronauts once they return from a very long trip with large amounts of radiation.

The suggestions for looking for women with hysterectomies was also taking practical limitations of any long duration space mission. The worry is not about unwanted pregancy- this is a virtiual impossibility since no fetus can develp well enough in zero-g, who knows about micro-g. Furthermore, even if the baby could come to term, it would be almost impossible to bring the baby into normal g.

Women with hysterectomies will not have to worry about menstrual cycles, and I believe they have lower incidences of certain cancers- something that should be carefully considered.

While I think the refrence to replacing the heart was made in jest, it really is an impractical idea since a replacement would be faultier than the original.

C M Edwards · 2002-06-03 08:31:35

Returning to the specific topic of crime and insanity, I should note that we have to avoid falling into the trap of allowing urban legends to make our decisions for us.

For example, in my part of the United States, we used to traditionally shower the bride and groom with dried rice at weddings. It was bagged and handed out to the wedding guests to throw at the end of the reception, as had been the custom for more than a century since rice replaced some other grain of choice. Then an urban legend took hold that the rice was harmful to birds. Specifically, the rice was supposed to swell up in the poor little birds? crops and kill them. In addition to the total absence of bloated dead chickadees dropping in the wakes of wedding parties, evidence to the contrary is easy to gather. All you have to do is soak uncooked rice in water to see that it doesn?t swell any more than any other dried grain. To puff it, it MUST be cooked.

Still, from the few stories I?ve heard of people gauche enough to try and offer rice after this idea took hold, they were refused and generally regarded as some sort of cruel, anti-environment wedding Nazis. This fabrication has completely changed a century of tradition in less than a decade. The local grain of choice at weddings is now birdseed.

Psychology and space exploration are both widely misunderstood concepts. A lot of people seem to have the idea that complete mental breakdowns are more likely in space than in other places and/or that breakdowns are somehow more likely than the subtler degradations of morale and performance that often afflict remote stations. I?ve even had one person ? whom I?ve never regarded as ignorant on other subjects -- tell me that a journey to Mars was impossible because someone was guaranteed to ?freak out?. He was even able to tell me where he read it ? the AP. (Crap like that is actually appearing in print! ) I?m sure that some of those people out there throwing birdseed are generally intelligent once you get them away from the reception, too.

Are we looking at the birth of a new urban legend?

CME

Palomar · 2002-06-06 10:47:42

CME wrote: Returning to the specific topic of crime and insanity, I should note that we have to avoid falling into the trap of allowing urban legends to make our decisions for us.

Your example of rice thrown at weddings was excellent. When living in the Midwest (where I was born and raised), I recall the rice versus birdseed controversy. I'd forgotten it until you mentioned it, having lived now in the desert SW of the USA for the past 10 years, in a strongly Latino culture. There's no rice versus birdseed debate here, for weddings.

Obviously urban legends can become powerful and persuasive. While I think the chances of someone "going bonkers" en route to Mars, or while on Mars, are somewhat good, how can one explain all the episodes of craziness and whackos in the natural enviroment of home -- Earth? Lots of loonies are running around shooting at people or blowing themselves up here. <shrug>

--Cindy

MS member since 6/01

Josh Cryer · 2002-06-06 11:27:35

I personally feel that mental collaspe isn't as big as people make it seem. I don't think people are as prone to breakdowns as is suggested.

I've read stuff about how the Luner Command Module pilots might go insane since they were totally isolated from humans (they had to stay in the Command Module while the other astronauts did their EVA on the moon- being as far as 10k miles from any human being). Of course, this never happened.

I think human ablity is exaggerated to make taxpayers think they're actually paying for something (taxpayers would be annoyed if you sent up people who didn't go through years of training). I truely believe anyone could go into space with very little training.

clark · 2002-06-07 10:44:31

There are 6.9 billion people in the world, mental collapse is not all that great given the numbers. It just seems like there are more crazies because of our ability to focus onn these individuals- communications being what they are allow us to artifically inflate the problem.

5,000 people a year die in truck-car related crashes in California- not all that much copared to the number of drivers- but each of those 5,000 is a story which can be told to make it seem like a larger issue. Human beings, by and large, are resiliant and self-correcting. The mind generally "snaps" when it is unable to cope with a certain situation- it "snaps" in order to preserve a system for continuing biological functions.

New Mars Forums

Announcement

#26 2002-05-31 15:18:14

Re: Crime and Insanity - What to do about it.

#27 2002-05-31 15:23:15

Re: Crime and Insanity - What to do about it.

#28 2002-05-31 15:49:26

Re: Crime and Insanity - What to do about it.

#29 2002-06-03 05:16:43

Re: Crime and Insanity - What to do about it.

#30 2002-06-03 08:31:35

Re: Crime and Insanity - What to do about it.

#31 2002-06-06 10:47:42

Re: Crime and Insanity - What to do about it.

#32 2002-06-06 11:27:35

Re: Crime and Insanity - What to do about it.

#33 2002-06-07 10:44:31

Re: Crime and Insanity - What to do about it.

Board footer