Long captivated by the idea of space travel, Arnie says, “Julia, did you ever think of living on a space station or on the moon.”
Julia, preparing supper while listening for sounds of fighting among the kids, replies, “No.”
Not content, Arnie continues, “Just ‘No.’ Think about it. Life in free-float, no stepping on the scale each morning and then saying, ‘I have to lose two pounds.’ Or life on the moon or Mars, where you would weigh only a small fraction of your weight, which, by the way, is fine with me. Don’t you wear the same size you wore last year?”
Hearing a louder clamor from the kids’ playroom, Julia says loudly, “Kids! Get ready for supper.”
“Think about it. You mean you have never wondered what it would be like to go to space? You’ve gone on a rollercoaster or two. Didn’t the thrill of the acceleration or the momentary microgravity ever make you wonder?”
“Not really. You know I’m not a fan of those rides, and I certainly didn’t go on Mission Space at Disney World last summer. I get motion sickness and dizzy. I close my eyes on most of those rides. So, I certainly wouldn’t want to keep my eyes closed for days or weeks or months or years. I just won’t have as much for supper tonight. My diet starts now.”
“Jules, you mean if I got a free ride to space, you wouldn’t go?”
“Don’t you remember those space ships that blew up? No, I’m certainly not going on one of those. And in spite of your thinking that I haven’t thought about it, I guess I can say I have for a moment, like when I stepped on the scale this morning two pounds more than I weighed yesterday. What did I eat? Anyway, no I don’t want to go to space. Where do those people pee? How do they enjoy a glass of wine? Do they even have windows? Certainly, they don’t go for a walk, well, I know they go for spacewalks, but they don’t go for walk-walks, you know, on their feet.”
“But just for a little trip, to be able to look back on Earth from space or from the moon. Think of the perspective, Jules. Think of what that view would do for the kids’ mental growth and maturity. They wouldn’t think that our little town is the center of the universe. They would see the silliness of pettiness.”
Now engaged, Julia says, “You’re living in some Star Trek world where people walk around in enormous spacecraft as though they are walking on Earth. I’ve read a little about your precious space travel. There are problems, different problems from the ones you face here. Kids! I said get ready for supper.”
“Sure, I’ll grant that wherever people go there are problems, but in going, you get to be part of a select society. The other people would be chosen because they are psychologically sound, bright, and unencumbered by pettiness. I mean, what woman would have to worry about her hairdo in a place where hair just floats on the head?”
“Arnie, you’re living a dream. There would be problems galore, especially that one about where to pee. Do you remember how hard potty-training was? You going to do that with pretoddlers and toddlers in space? No gravity. See that pot of boiling water over there on the stove? How do I do any homestyle cooking in space? Anyway, you think I haven’t given it any attention, this space travel stuff. No, I don’t watch Star Trek, as you know, but I occasionally read something about space travel, and it’s always got something off-putting about it. Just today I read that when people go into space for extended times, they begin to lose their ability to read other peoples' expressions. They see faces more negatively. Don’t look at me that way! I know you don’t think I know….”
“What way? I wasn’t….”
“That way. I know that look. You think you know more about everything. People in space for long periods could get into more fights because they misinterpret expressions. You know those tough-kid gangster or gunfight movies you like when the bad guy says ‘You lookin’ at me?’ to the innocent stranger? That’s you men on steroids in space. No thanks. We have enough of that here on Earth. Your peaceful village on Mars would be at war in months, maybe at war even before the people got to Mars. Kids! Supper is ready.”
Arnie, a bit befuddled, says, “I…I…Where did you hear that?”
“Hear what?”
“That stuff about reading faces in space.”
“I told you. I read. You know how I like to read psychology articles, studies about the brain and emotions. I do have a B.S. in psych, or did you forget where we met in college? I just happened to see an article pop up on my IPad, so I skimmed it. * It was about a study on how space travel would affect astronauts’ ability to read faces, to understand what emotions their facial expressions convey. So, you can take your space travel, your Star Trek, your Elon Musk dreams. Kids! Supper. I’ve got too many down-to-Earth problems to handle. What if I couldn’t correctly read the kids’ faces? What if I went to the grocery store and misread the look of someone in the checkout line? What if I took friendliness as unfriendliness in the look of a stranger? You think road rage is a problem now; imagine people driving around in their moon buggies and having road rage because they thought the other drivers were out to get them in some cruel bumper car scenario. Isn’t misreading faces one of the reasons strangers get into fights? No thanks on your trip to Mars. No thanks on your fun microgravity beyond that occasional rollercoaster ride I take for the kids’ sake. Kids! Supper.”
“Okay, okay. Just askin’. What are we having for supper? Kids! Your mother told you supper’s ready. Get in here. What are you fighting about anyway?”
“Johnny’s making faces at me.”
“No, I wasn’t. She’s making faces at me. She stuck out her tongue.”
“Sit down.”
Julia can’t help herself in making a final comment. “I think I made my point.”
* “Continuous and Intermittent Artificial Gravity as a Countermeasure to the Cognitive Effects of 60 Days of Head-Down Tilt Bed Rest” by Mathias Basner, David F. Dinges, Kia Howard, Tyler M. Moore, Ruben C. Gur, Christian Mühl and Alexander C. Stahn, 17 March 2021, Frontiers in Physiology. DOI: 10.3389/fphys.2021.643854
Julia, preparing supper while listening for sounds of fighting among the kids, replies, “No.”
Not content, Arnie continues, “Just ‘No.’ Think about it. Life in free-float, no stepping on the scale each morning and then saying, ‘I have to lose two pounds.’ Or life on the moon or Mars, where you would weigh only a small fraction of your weight, which, by the way, is fine with me. Don’t you wear the same size you wore last year?”
Hearing a louder clamor from the kids’ playroom, Julia says loudly, “Kids! Get ready for supper.”
“Think about it. You mean you have never wondered what it would be like to go to space? You’ve gone on a rollercoaster or two. Didn’t the thrill of the acceleration or the momentary microgravity ever make you wonder?”
“Not really. You know I’m not a fan of those rides, and I certainly didn’t go on Mission Space at Disney World last summer. I get motion sickness and dizzy. I close my eyes on most of those rides. So, I certainly wouldn’t want to keep my eyes closed for days or weeks or months or years. I just won’t have as much for supper tonight. My diet starts now.”
“Jules, you mean if I got a free ride to space, you wouldn’t go?”
“Don’t you remember those space ships that blew up? No, I’m certainly not going on one of those. And in spite of your thinking that I haven’t thought about it, I guess I can say I have for a moment, like when I stepped on the scale this morning two pounds more than I weighed yesterday. What did I eat? Anyway, no I don’t want to go to space. Where do those people pee? How do they enjoy a glass of wine? Do they even have windows? Certainly, they don’t go for a walk, well, I know they go for spacewalks, but they don’t go for walk-walks, you know, on their feet.”
“But just for a little trip, to be able to look back on Earth from space or from the moon. Think of the perspective, Jules. Think of what that view would do for the kids’ mental growth and maturity. They wouldn’t think that our little town is the center of the universe. They would see the silliness of pettiness.”
Now engaged, Julia says, “You’re living in some Star Trek world where people walk around in enormous spacecraft as though they are walking on Earth. I’ve read a little about your precious space travel. There are problems, different problems from the ones you face here. Kids! I said get ready for supper.”
“Sure, I’ll grant that wherever people go there are problems, but in going, you get to be part of a select society. The other people would be chosen because they are psychologically sound, bright, and unencumbered by pettiness. I mean, what woman would have to worry about her hairdo in a place where hair just floats on the head?”
“Arnie, you’re living a dream. There would be problems galore, especially that one about where to pee. Do you remember how hard potty-training was? You going to do that with pretoddlers and toddlers in space? No gravity. See that pot of boiling water over there on the stove? How do I do any homestyle cooking in space? Anyway, you think I haven’t given it any attention, this space travel stuff. No, I don’t watch Star Trek, as you know, but I occasionally read something about space travel, and it’s always got something off-putting about it. Just today I read that when people go into space for extended times, they begin to lose their ability to read other peoples' expressions. They see faces more negatively. Don’t look at me that way! I know you don’t think I know….”
“What way? I wasn’t….”
“That way. I know that look. You think you know more about everything. People in space for long periods could get into more fights because they misinterpret expressions. You know those tough-kid gangster or gunfight movies you like when the bad guy says ‘You lookin’ at me?’ to the innocent stranger? That’s you men on steroids in space. No thanks. We have enough of that here on Earth. Your peaceful village on Mars would be at war in months, maybe at war even before the people got to Mars. Kids! Supper is ready.”
Arnie, a bit befuddled, says, “I…I…Where did you hear that?”
“Hear what?”
“That stuff about reading faces in space.”
“I told you. I read. You know how I like to read psychology articles, studies about the brain and emotions. I do have a B.S. in psych, or did you forget where we met in college? I just happened to see an article pop up on my IPad, so I skimmed it. * It was about a study on how space travel would affect astronauts’ ability to read faces, to understand what emotions their facial expressions convey. So, you can take your space travel, your Star Trek, your Elon Musk dreams. Kids! Supper. I’ve got too many down-to-Earth problems to handle. What if I couldn’t correctly read the kids’ faces? What if I went to the grocery store and misread the look of someone in the checkout line? What if I took friendliness as unfriendliness in the look of a stranger? You think road rage is a problem now; imagine people driving around in their moon buggies and having road rage because they thought the other drivers were out to get them in some cruel bumper car scenario. Isn’t misreading faces one of the reasons strangers get into fights? No thanks on your trip to Mars. No thanks on your fun microgravity beyond that occasional rollercoaster ride I take for the kids’ sake. Kids! Supper.”
“Okay, okay. Just askin’. What are we having for supper? Kids! Your mother told you supper’s ready. Get in here. What are you fighting about anyway?”
“Johnny’s making faces at me.”
“No, I wasn’t. She’s making faces at me. She stuck out her tongue.”
“Sit down.”
Julia can’t help herself in making a final comment. “I think I made my point.”
* “Continuous and Intermittent Artificial Gravity as a Countermeasure to the Cognitive Effects of 60 Days of Head-Down Tilt Bed Rest” by Mathias Basner, David F. Dinges, Kia Howard, Tyler M. Moore, Ruben C. Gur, Christian Mühl and Alexander C. Stahn, 17 March 2021, Frontiers in Physiology. DOI: 10.3389/fphys.2021.643854
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