“I couldn’t have heard you right,” he said. “One million?”
“Yeah, that’s what I read. Musk wants to send a million people to Mars by 2050.”
“Does he know how many a million is?”
“Of course he does. He’s a gajillionaire. He knows what a billion is. I’m sure he believes it’s possible.”
“You goin’?”
“H…e…double toothpick, no. I’m kinda happy being quarantined on Earth. I can’t imagine being quarantined first on a spaceship and then on a planet with a carbon dioxide atmosphere, little water, and sandstorms that sweep over the entire surface for weeks or months.”
“But would you go if you knew that that quarantine kept you from Earth’s deadly diseases?”
“How’s that possible. You know how many bacteria, fungi, and viruses I carry around in and on my own body? What am I supposed to do, take hourly baths in ethyl alcohol, drink the stuff until I die of alcohol poisoning? And what about those supposedly ‘good’ bacteria in my gut? You know I would have to carry them to Mars and eventually put them into the ‘good red Mars’ as Eden Phillpotts might express it.”
“But there’s Elon Musk, saying, as you say, one million might go to Mars. I’m sure he has some plan for that society, but what do they do there except constantly try to survive?”
“Well, when you think of it, what do we do here but constantly try to survive?”
“Yeah, that’s what I read. Musk wants to send a million people to Mars by 2050.”
“Does he know how many a million is?”
“Of course he does. He’s a gajillionaire. He knows what a billion is. I’m sure he believes it’s possible.”
“You goin’?”
“H…e…double toothpick, no. I’m kinda happy being quarantined on Earth. I can’t imagine being quarantined first on a spaceship and then on a planet with a carbon dioxide atmosphere, little water, and sandstorms that sweep over the entire surface for weeks or months.”
“But would you go if you knew that that quarantine kept you from Earth’s deadly diseases?”
“How’s that possible. You know how many bacteria, fungi, and viruses I carry around in and on my own body? What am I supposed to do, take hourly baths in ethyl alcohol, drink the stuff until I die of alcohol poisoning? And what about those supposedly ‘good’ bacteria in my gut? You know I would have to carry them to Mars and eventually put them into the ‘good red Mars’ as Eden Phillpotts might express it.”
“But there’s Elon Musk, saying, as you say, one million might go to Mars. I’m sure he has some plan for that society, but what do they do there except constantly try to survive?”
“Well, when you think of it, what do we do here but constantly try to survive?”
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