Crew 216 Journalist Report 02-DEC-19
Sol 8
Author: Evgenia Alexandrova
On Mars you have all the time in the world to think through the philosophical questions that you never have time to explore on Earth. Notions like happiness and meaning of life are the most perplexing ones. What comes first? Meaning or happiness? Austrian psychiatrist Viktor Frankl survived concentration camps during the WWII and wrote a book based on his experience. He states that meaning is the crucial thing that drives a human to continue living through a whatever challenge. The faith in ultimate goal, the hidden or obvious sense in life can lead you through the darkest times.
People who will colonize Mars will definitely have a profound sense of meaning. I felt a glimpse of it during the three interviews with the crew members I conducted during the past days. What about MDRS? Is there a meaning in this place? Definitely. But to me, it goes back to happiness. Happiness is meaningful just by itself.
New anonymous poem of the day:
Today we saw amazing things
And felt the wonder that it brings
To feel what it is like in space
But not forget this special place
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