Mars and Earth are like dual canvases upon which the complexities of human nature unfold. Human curiosity, the desire to explore, to push physical and mental boundaries, and even, many times, to dominate, to stake a claim of ownership, and to profit all play into the enthusiastic drive to get to Mars. The technology to send humans to Mars may be just a few years away, but are humans as a race psychologically ready for it?
After spending hundreds of days living at sea in the spirit of exploration, a place humans were not built to inhabit, I have given a lot of thought to both the motivations and implications of going to another planet. One the one hand, any technological advancements that bring humans closer to surviving a trip to Mars, can only benefit the humans on Earth. When we consider major innovations will have to be made in food production, creating balanced microclimates and eco-systems, finding sustainable temperature modifications, figuring out efficient modular building methods, discovering the best way to shield radiation over a long period of time, etc. It is clear that research into all of these areas have huge benefits for people on Earth as well.
On the other hand, look at the mess we’ve made of our own planet and social systems. Do we really want to take our bad habits to a pristine planet and make a mess there too? Shouldn’t we figure out how to solve our propensity to produce toxic wastes, consume without a thought for where a product comes from and then to throw it into massive pile of garbage that will sit for decades and threaten to poison us if we get near it? Shouldn’t we try to figure out how to convince our fellow humans that violent disputes over land ownership is a ridiculous way to solve anything and only ends up destroying what they are fighting to own? And can we actually own land in the first place, or are we just stewards for the next generation?
Really? This is who is going to Mars. The humans of today who have not figured out how to make efficient use of their own planet’s inborn systems of maintaining homeostasis, who fight over every little thing, have not cured hunger, homelessness, or mental illness, and then claim they are the greatest who ever lived.
Don’t get me wrong. I think we should go to Mars. Eventually. But right now, we have some serious work to do. We cannot and should not take these problems, which are within our reach to solve, into a space where we will need every brain cell and cooperative effort to survive. When we make Earth a good place to live, then we will have demonstrated that we are not only technologically ready to explore and inhabit other planets, but we are also psychologically ready to thrive and respect these other parts of creation as well.
