2.0 Human Nature

Human nature is the sum total of human experience expressed in actions with the components of human nature being morality/spirituality and intelligence. Spirituality is the moral guide we use in our dealings with others and human intelligence is the decision maker.

Knowledge is not considered as part of human nature as it is an acquisition based on biological ability and is the third part of what I refer to as the human condition.

2.1 Human Morality / Spirituality

This spirituality or moral compass ingrained into our humanity is diverse in concept and efforts should be made to provide an overwhelming oneness of community before flight occurs.

"In the beginning" is perhaps the one phrase that has led to the most destruction in our history due to the different interpretations and beliefs that we attribute to the beginnings of life, time, our universal home and indeed, our own existence.

Although these religions and beliefs may vary in many ways and being based in science, mathematics, consciousness and mythology, they have one common thread, a form of morality.[1]

This moral compass is found in most peoples of earth and is a fundamental reality of our human condition whether that moral compass came from religious or communal beliefs. The differences however, that such beliefs promote are in themselves a threat to people deprived of the luxury of having distance from the source.

Daniel V A Olson[2] in his work "The Influence of Your Neighbors’ Religions on You, Your Attitudes and Behaviors, and Your Community" stated that "example studies demonstrate that religious groups that predominate in an area can influence the behavior of all people living in an area. Moreover, these influences act upon a broad range of attitudes such as tolerance and trust."[3]

In the closed community of an interplanetary expedition or colony such influences, especially on tolerance could be the ignition point that leads to a breakdown in the confined community.

Polar research stations, submarines and other isolated postings are usually inhabited by committed professionals dedicated to the task in hand. Interplanetary flights and colonies would also, for the most part enjoy the same or greater level of professionalism. The difference, however, is that earth based isolation has a safety gasket, they can leave. Space based exploration and colonization does not have the same relief valve.

David Saint-Jacques, a Canadian astronaut based on the ISS has said that “You're always with the same people on board, so if conflict arises, you have nowhere to go. You have to face it, so it is a challenge.”[4]

2.2 Human Intelligence

Human intelligence is the decision maker that weighs the issues of wants v/s desires to create an actionable outcome.  

The American Psychological Association has stated that “intelligence refers to intellectual functioning.”[5]

They further state that intelligence quotients, or IQ tests, compare your performance with other people your age who take the same test. These tests don’t measure all kinds of intelligence, however. For example, such tests can’t identify differences in social intelligence, the expertise people bring to their interactions with others. There are also generational differences in the population as a whole. Better nutrition, more education and other factors have resulted in IQ improvements for each generation.

This definition would indicate that an individual is different from every other individual as each has had separate life experiences and conditions.

The inhabitants of a planet where the individual is relatively free to roam such as we are on earth allows greater latitude in his or her application of human nature, spirituality and intelligence than when living in a “bottle”. When cooperatively applied to everyday living, the human condition does not adversely affect the species or the community to any great degree. Survival of the species or community continues.

The application of the same human nature when applied to someone living on a submarine, in a remote location or on an interplanetary expedition has to be exercised with greater restraints than those living in open spaces. The confinement itself adds additional pressures as the environment has become more hostile to the continuation of the secluded community.

The application of the same human nature when applied to someone living in a colony on a hostile planet where “bubble living” is the only form of survivability, the daily pressures are even greater, and to the extreme. The continuation of the community (colony) is at greater risk of failure or disaster if the human condition expressed on earth is carried into space.

 2.3 Philosophically Speaking

Thomas Hobbes (1588–1679) a British philosopher believed that in man's natural state, moral ideas do not exist. Thus, in speaking of human nature, he defines good simply as that which people desire and evil as that which they avoid, at least in the state of nature. Hobbes uses these definitions as bases for explaining a variety of emotions and behaviors.[6]

Although Hobbes definition is simplistic in definition it is complex in its application.  Although professionalism is expected from anyone in any given environment, our predilection towards self is dominate. In a closed environment this predilection can be very destructive.

Our self-concept drives our motivations, methods, and experiences when communicating with others. For example, if you see yourself as someone who is always right (or who must always be right), you may struggle in communicating with others when disagreements arise. If that need is accompanied by an acceptance of aggression, you may use hostility, assertiveness, and argumentativeness to attack the self-concepts of the people you are debating instead of discussing their positions (Infante & Wigley, 1986)

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