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9:00-9:20 Abhik Gupta Life in Space Colonies: Can Ecocentrism Help?
Presentation
Live Discussion
Chat log
09:07:43 From Dan Capper to Everyone : Yesterday we had a discussion about contours of social evolution. We missed an essay on social evolution from SSoCIA's own Kathryn Denning: "Social Evolution: State of the Field," in _Cosmos and Culture_, edited by Steven J. Dick and Mark L. Lupisella.
09:09:25 From David DeGraff (he/him) to Everyone : “magnificent desolation”
09:10:15 From Kathryn Denning to Everyone : [Thanks Dan for the mention. It's a bit outdated now but free at the link below with lots of other material in the book, and hopefully some of the principles hold. I have some more recent stuff on Academia.edu and ResearchGate https://www.nasa.gov/connect/ebooks/hist_culture_cosmos_detail.html]
09:13:16 From Linda Billings to Everyone : Abhik, I love your poetry!
09:13:27 From Erik Persson to Everyone : @Kathryn I followed the link, it says "404 The cosmic object you are looking for has disappeared beyond the event horizon." :(
09:14:00 From Kathryn Denning to Everyone : try this Erik? https:// www.nasa.gov/pdf/607104main_CosmosCulture-ebook.pdf . 09:14:05 From Nick Nielsen to Everyone : Rather, we should think of environmental psychology as selective.
09:14:06 From Robert.Kennedy to Everyone : darn auto-correct!
09:14:21 From Kathryn Denning to Everyone : I really like Abhik's paper. I get comfort from house plants : )
09:14:26 From E H to Everyone : Nature exposure as dosage. What's the proper amount?
09:14:30 From Erik Persson to Everyone : @Kathryn It works! Thanks!
09:15:00 From David DeGraff (he/him) to Everyone : I spent two months at South Pole Station in the 80s It took me a month to not be surprised by the sun at midnight. When I got back to New Zealand I searched all over the city for a good view of a sunset. In the taxi from the airport I could close my eyes and smell when we passed under trees.
09:15:04 From Lucas Mix to Everyone : I think we interact with countless species in our microbiome + pests. I'm interested in how that "ecosystem" would develop in the popular imagination as well as ecologically.
09:15:19 From Linda Billings to Everyone : Abhik’s discussion of the emotional aspects of long-term stays in space reminded me of a memoir written by Russian cosmonaut Valentin Lebedev. Diary of a Cosmonaut: 211 Days in Space. He wrote very movingly of how sad he felt to be away from his family for so long, feelings of isolation, loneliness.
09:15:27 From Neil Manson to Everyone : Fascinating, David!
09:15:40 From Kathryn Denning to Everyone : When I was in a Mars simulation (MDRS), we were all really excited when our sprouts grew.
09:16:12 From E H to Everyone : Houseplant care as astronaut qualification
09:16:19 From Alex Penn to Everyone : I think the key is something we can interact with and get feedback from-enough complexity for that. 09:16:34 From Alex Penn to Everyone : That is what makes something absorbing
09:16:42 From John Traphagan to Everyone : We have some sort of houseplant that my wife got 30 years ago and has been cut and replanted ever since. IT's all over the house now.
09:17:05 From Neil Manson to Everyone : How would developing children be affected by the lack of a natural environment? My mom used to say constantly when I was a kid "Just go outside and *do* something." What would be the equivalent of that in a space colony?
09:17:07 From John Traphagan to Everyone : It increasingly reminds me of The Day of the Triffids.
09:17:09 From Linda Billings to Everyone : A few years ago I worked with a 3d grade class to help them develop designs for martian habitats. They wanted plants, animals, and private space in their habitats.
09:17:12 From William Alba to Everyone : I think the larger point that Sheri is making is that there is a great diversity of ways that individuals interact with and react to plants.
09:17:39 From E H to Everyone : @Neil: Going outside in VR
09:17:41 From daniela to Everyone : reminds me of Blade Runner, the novel, eventually nature and animals will become a very expensive commodity
09:17:41 From William Alba to Everyone : Related to the notion that there are city people, people who prefer warm climates' tc.
09:17:41 From Neil Manson to Everyone : Abhik, we're having a good discussion of your paper now! And it is being recorded so you can listen to it later! Technical problems happen, unfortunately.
09:17:56 From Kathryn Denning to Everyone : Linda, that's a useful observation
09:18:03 From William Alba to Everyone : But I also think individuals can be quite adaptive.
09:18:26 From Kelly Smith to Everyone : Smart 3rd graders, Linda
09:18:47 From Kathryn Denning to Everyone : Reider's book Dreaming the Biosphere about the experiment is great https://unmpress.com/books/dreaming-biosphere/9780826346742
09:19:12 From Dr Sheri Wells-Jensen to Everyone : I do kill the house plants but I insist on a live Christmas tree: this year, we actually have TWO because it feels like we need more nature in the house: still... ...
09:19:44 From Kelly Smith to Everyone : Yeah, but xmas trees are dying anyway, so nothing to preserve. Enjoy its death!
09:20:23 From Jim Schwartz to Everyone : @Kelly now you just need to write the "society that lives under a dome in a christmas tree" SF novel.
09:20:36 From Andrew Kennedy to Everyone : too rigid categorizations is boring be it nature or the ISS. parts of life need to be nonprescription
09:20:39 From William Alba to Everyone : We have plenty of houseplants thanks to my spouse, who acquired them post-COVID. But they do little for me... I actually get more positive feelings from our two artificial Xmas trees.
09:21:05 From Kathryn Denning to Everyone : Abhik, thanks so much. Hope to talk more sometime.
09:21:21 From Neil Manson to Everyone : Thanks for a stimulating presentation, Abhik!
09:21:22 From E H to Everyone : There will be a difference on this between people with Terran experience and those born in extraterran environments
09:21:43 From William Alba to Everyone : Agreed, E H
09:21:51 From Sarah Reynolds to Everyone : I wonder if there would be a certain cognitive dissonance likely to occur when the environment seems Earth-like but is not inhabited. That might be more disturbing than the artificial or very different environment. Like the AI
“uncanny valley”, but with an environment.
09:23:14 From Dan Capper to Everyone : I thought your presentation represents a great idea, Abhik. Perhaps some Indian interactions with the tulsi plant can serve as useful illustrations of your point from the field?
09:23:20 From Alan Johnson to Everyone : The character Ann Clayborne in Red Mars exemplifies a love of a lifeless Mars based on a geologist's appreciation of the geomorphic
diversity of the environment.
09:23:53 From Kathryn Denning to Everyone : An update on the stats Joe's presentation mentioned: https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2019/07/17/how-americans-see-the-future-of-space-exploration-50-years-after-the-first-moon-landing/
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/exploring-space-can-unitethe-us-not-in-the-way-you-might-think/ (current) Updated info on US re: public spending on space exploration.
Quoting: “Most Americans are pro-NASA and pro-space. A 2018 Pew
Research poll found that 80 percent think the space station has been a good investment, 72 percent think it is essential for the U.S. to remain a global leader in space, and 65 percent say that should happen through NASA, not primarily through private companies. But only 18 percent think it should be a top priority to send humans to Mars, and only 13 percent support sending humans to the moon.So what do Americans want NASA to do? The answer may come as a surprise: 63 percent say NASA should make monitoring global climate a top priority. If we include those who think it ...
09:23:59 From Kathryn Denning to Everyone : ...should be an important (but not top) priority, the percentage increases to a whopping 88 percent. The second-highest priority is looking for asteroids or other objects that might hit our planet.“
09:25:21 From Robert.Kennedy to Everyone : from a geoengineer, that is fascinating thing to hear
09:27:10 From David DeGraff (he/him) to Everyone : The asteroid thing could help Arecibo arise from the dead.
09:27:18 From Linda Billings to Everyone : Important point, Kathryn. That survey showed that respondents priorities for space exploration were very different from NASA’s priorities - yes, humans to the Moon and Mars were at the bottom of the list. I set up a call with the people who conducted that survey to find out how they identified the priorities on their list. They did it by combing through large quantities of media content to draw out space exploration topics that got the most media attention.
09:27:23 From daniela to Everyone : @Kathryn, this is great to hear/ read
09:28:01 From Kathryn Denning to Everyone : Glad you followed up with them, Linda