Monks on Mars: It's worth a thought

Because two prominent scientists, Dirk Schulze-Makuch and Paul Davies, are recommending that Mars be initially colonized by four older humans who won’t ever return to Earth – the question is now on the table…

Who wants to go?

Both the recommendation and the question have provoked a range of intense responses from the general public.  Some have called this a “suicide mission” – others have likened it to earlier explorations of planet Earth.  After all, did Lewis and Clark, Columbus, and numerous others know for sure that theirs was a round-trip? 

What prompted them to go?  Some say fame and fortune.  Some say newfound freedom and opportunity.  

Others claim there’s an innate drive in humans that prompts them to travel where none have gone before. 

Call it a “holy curiosity.”  Einstein did:  The important thing is not to stop questioning.  Curiosity has its own reason for existing.  One cannot help but be in awe when he contemplates the mysteries of eternity, of life, of the marvelous structure of reality…

It often seems as though explorations of outer space can’t help but evoke explorations of inner space.  Even

the most mundane of minds can’t help but contemplate the big questions when faced with a one-way ticket to

possible oblivion.  Robert Zubrin of the Mars Society offers this rationale:  Life is a one-way trip.  If you

don’t go to Mars, you’re going to die on Earth.  You’re going to die somewhere.

It is being recommended that the first settlers on Mars be non-childbearing (due to high radiation levels), as

well as psychologically equipped to withstand this sort of existential angst.  Monks (of many different faiths)

might therefore be an ideal population from which to recruit.  Many have already chosen not to procreate,

and many have already spent years preparing themselves for just this sort of holy quest.

Resources

http://www.csmonitor.com/Innovation/One-way-ticket-to-Mars

http://www.quotationspage.com/quote/9316.html

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

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