What is the point in colonizing Mars, if we are only going to do the same we have here on earth?
For starters, Mars doesn't revolve around the Earth. We go there as one specie, end up as a completely different one, unlike any that has ever thrived here on earth. We cannot go there with the earth on mind, if we are to transcend our current state, it'd be a new paradigm. If we equate the planets as if there were any similarities between the two, it'll be a failed attempt from the start. Earth is richer beyond comparison to its planetary sister in ways that, among others, foster life. We may find ways to survive, but the task will be daunting to say the least, human ingenuity will not cut it, we will need to be truly minimalistic in our approach. As a specie, we are continuously evolving. Today's tech is nothing compared to tomorrow's, and by tomorrow I really mean it literally, "tomorrow", as in 24 hours from now.
If we start worrying about the abstruse difficulty, we will never achieve anything. The 500 first Spaniards that landed in Mexico faced more than a million Aztecs, men were anxious about their odds after crossing the Atlantic Ocean. What was, their leader, Hernan Cortés, to do in order to quell the dissent among his men? He scuttled his ships. Now they had only one option: to stay, and in doing so, the more narrower choice was to succeed in their quest or perish. This analogy illustrates the not so polically-correct anthics of those barbaric days, it is a colloquial anecdote of greed, ambition but also of survival. When you have nothing to fall fack on, the direction to go is only forward. In Mars, scenarios are contemplated where first-time settlers may end up contaminating the alien planet. The superlative as in sister planet would only be fair if it referred to a "zombified" one. Let's not kid ourselves, first humans will encounter a hostile environment that would most likely kill them at every turn. Genetically enhancing humans may be the more realistic path. It's nothing new, we are all more or less the genetically modified organisms, it's in the way we eat, the vaccines we receive early in our formation, the medicinal and technological advances we enjoy. Sending humans who would fare off because they are better at a genetic level to begin with is not a far-fetched dilution but a necessity. Space is brutal and nature has given us the the most magnificent tool to harness, instead of focusing on making better machines, marry the fields of biology, genetics and robotics. We don't just need a killer robot machine, we need superb human survivalists, smarter, better, to maximize our chances of success.
We can't get to Mars with the same tools we got to the moon. We should start over on Mars, to face the ultimate calamities that chaos has in store for us.
We ought to be grateful for individuals with the means, ambition, and vision to get there the likes of Elon Musk, perhaps the most significant figure to fit this description, combining all these traits... even to possess one is hard enough.
The reason to go to Mars shouldn't be the fear that something horrible is bound to eventually happen to earth. Just like the reason not to go shouldn't revolve around having problems big enough here on earth to extrapolate them to Mars.
If anything, we may one day soon see Mars as a viable option for humanity to thrive, it's in everyone's imagination and has been talked about and when humans get something into their collective consciousness, it is only a matter of time before it comes to fruition. Nothing will ever replace earth in importance and priority, we may never have a better option than the one we currently sit upon here on this tiny fishbowl. On Mars, we'll find frozen lakes of water, live in its natural caverns where radiation won't reach us, use the clever technology we have to entertain ourselves. It is not easy and surely there'd be hurdles to overcome, but the problem at hand represents the most exciting prospect since we first got to the moon.
The reason that we should and will eventually head off to this icy rusty red dwarf-like planet is simply that we can. Human beings define themselves as riddle-solvers, explorers, we cannot stay still one moment, our ancestors passed on these competitive genes, survived the worst obstacles, thrived through and through. These visionary genes have been passed down from across generations, look how far we've come technologically since the Stone Age.
The reason that we should and will eventually head off to this icy rusty red dwarf-like planet is simply that we can. Human beings define themselves as riddle-solvers, explorers, we cannot stay still one moment, our ancestors passed on these competitive genes, survived the worst obstacles, thrived through and through. These visionary genes have been passed down from across generations, look how far we've come technologically since the Stone Age.
If we got to the moon with less computer power than the one the smartphone I write this entry with, making Spunitk look like a joke in comparison during the Cold War, imagine the things we can do with the advent of quantum computers or anything remotely close to it. It can and should be an international effort. But if we need any tribal thinking thrown into the mix, we should really consider that if we don't take it seriously enough, and sooner rather than later, China will.
Mars would represent the most astonishing feat humankind has ever achieved; whoever it is that gets there first will be immortalized. Bragging out for eons to come.
Earth will always have its challenges but we can do both: take on the big mission of going to Mars and tackle the problems here. In realizing that we can take on such a great challenge, it would advance revolutionary, new technologies that would make climate change a thing of the past, devise new ways of food shortage that would combat famine, create cleaner means of energy and eradicate disease, among others.
Mars would represent the most astonishing feat humankind has ever achieved; whoever it is that gets there first will be immortalized. Bragging out for eons to come.
Earth will always have its challenges but we can do both: take on the big mission of going to Mars and tackle the problems here. In realizing that we can take on such a great challenge, it would advance revolutionary, new technologies that would make climate change a thing of the past, devise new ways of food shortage that would combat famine, create cleaner means of energy and eradicate disease, among others.
What’s more, problems here on earth radically shift, depending on where you are. Some problems are technological, other geographical, economic, political, territorial, scientific, etc. But if we come together as the clever species that we are, in solving the quest for Mars we will surely address all of these fundamental challenges too. It will inspire us to rethink the boundless possibilities that lie in store for us.
More than anything, it is said, Mars represents an engineering conundrum. You may ask yourself if it's not a technological one. The two are one and the same: engineering deals with the theory aspect of the problem, the technology is applied. In other words, the plausible solutions devised to tackle the quest to get there will become technology once proven feasible. Overoptimism is not something engineers are known for; that makes me optimistic about the way this clever bunch could turn flip the proverbial coin of chance in our favor.
Not only do they need to figure out how to get there, but how to get back, what to do once there and how and where to take it from there.
Interpersonal problems may arise that have little to do with engineering, so we’ll need to assess the personnel aboard the spacecraft; therefore, we’ll need psychology. To address the impact such an odyssey will have on our physique will require physiology. Not to mention the possibility of famine, should the crew be stranded there, so we'll need botanists, too. It's not like we can take cows with us there. And how are we to tackle the possibility of politics playing a major role, after all, politicians are well-known for creating problems before we even get to solve anything. Politics is the scariest thing of all. Whenever you hear about catastrophes in the midst, that's politics. Politics was created to stall, resist change, keep the status quo.
If technology was anything like politics, instead of the iPhone 12, we would be going back to a rotary wired phone next year and bring back in spectacular fashion the telegraph the year after that. People will still make a line to go back in time. But we need politicians to give the okay, to fund the mission, and get off to a good start. Technology, too, has its upheavals, but once there’s a demand for a particular trend, then it becomes standard to head on in that direction.
An example in case is Venus, presumably a more feasible option than Mars, but since we've had our science fiction gunning for the Red Planet, in all likelihood, that’s where we will probably head first.
Mars will constitute the first baby step in our quest to explore space; we already crawled our way to the moon and it serves not just as a good start, but as a slingshot to the red planet. If we find a way to make it again to the moon and establish a colony there, we can use that knowledge and extrapolate it to Mars. If we can make it there, we can make it anywhere… Unlike the moon, a category 2 celestial body, the first human mission to Mars will inevitably contaminate it: Mars is a category 5 planet, after all. This may go back to the argument of polluting another planet like we have on earth. But that may be grotesquely exaggerated a tenet: as a species, we may already have some Martian elements here on earth, even within we may carry an infimal teeny-tiny bit of Martian in us. According to YouTube’s Vsauce channel, we may already be 0.0000000000000001 percent martian.
Earth is constantly bombarded by alien elements, in the form of asteroids that crash against our planet and end up as part of our atmosphere. Earth is nothing more than the accumulation of a zillion elements and chemical reactions puddled up together, uniquely observed thus far here but there is no reason to think that it may not have occurred elsewhere, too, in a not so distant galaxy.
So vast is the universe that not only is the concept of life emerging elsewhere a possibility but that at the same time, it may oh so far from us that we may not discover it in our lifetime. The most powerful telescopes have detected a host of planetary candidates orbiting at an ideal distance from their stars, that even if there were to not be auspicing life, they may one day serve as hospitable spots for future human generations in our interstellar quest. What we observe is limited by how far away that celestial body is, not only because it makes it harder to reach, but because what we observe in light-years away is a distance that roughly translates as to how these conditions were back then. So, if said planet is one hundred light-years away, not only does it mean that it will take us one hundred years traveling at the speed of light to reach; it also means that the favorable conditions observed now do not represent it as it is presently, but as it was one hundred light years ago. When we look at the stars at night, we are looking at their past, depending on how far away these are from us; our own star’s light traveling at 186,282 miles per second, takes about 8 minutes (499.0 seconds, to be exact) to reach earth, so when we look at the sun, we see it as it was eight minutes ago.
We miss the point that only the very best will get to be the first colonizers, that in all probability they’ll be eating a plant-based diet because there won’t be space for farms anytime soon. And plants are more resilient and thrive easier than animals in hostile habitats, as they rely less on movement, require only the energy of their star and some water. Animals are a luxury, and taking the most intelligent of them is animal enough. But these will not be the same animals, these would be the best of the best. If they’re to survive, the first colonizers are going to need to build a strong community and learn to cooperate, they will probably see themselves as the first true citizens of the universe having traveled so far, and knowing now that humankind is an interplanetary species. They will have to be minimalists, make more with less, and be highly ethical. Excess here will not hold, at least not in the foreseeable future.
When the American continent was discovered, it opened up a new world for explorers, adventurers, and oppressed people that migrated in search of a better life, the world had become smaller, especially with the advent of commercial flying. The world has been shrinking ever since, it is an interesting time to be alive. We may one day take a vacation on the moon or one of the moons of Jupiter, in the clouds of Venus, or underground caves on Mars.
It started small: Human prints on the moon. Hyperloop. Things, of unimaginable nature, were now possible. What if instead of a way to destroy one another, we were to look for a way to survive ourselves. To go above and beyond requires compromise, there’ll be risks and unfathomable challenges. We may see ourselves there, it’s only a matter of time and clever engineering. Wouldn’t it be awesome to be able one day to take a trip there? It is great and all, and it may pay off. It would be awesome if we could live in the clouds, not of Venus, but of our minds. Seeing ourselves as we do, as if one moment followed another, as opposed to how it metaphorically turns out to be: always running and anew, like a river. Too much to comprehend in a lifetime, and never enough time getting around to. Except things have come to a standstill with this pandemic. Never have I seen quieter, emptier streets in the thirty-some years I’ve lived in this city. Things are not picking up much, though a lot has changed. And it’s been a time that has a lot of downtimes, perfect for meditation, exercise, sleep, writing, reading, watching a lot of old TV shows on my laptop. It’s been a time that I thought instilled a sense of calm in a restless, tumultuous, always on. It’s been months, and things have changed little. Waiting was not on the agenda, postponing things neither. We miss the noise and traffic… oh wait, no. Not really, it’s just that since people used to get around more, now there are fewer people out and they are out because it is necessary. It creates more of that well-known tension. Everyone wearing a mask doesn’t make for a friendly environment and no one there observes safe distancing.
If they see you’re in your own head, worlds apart, maybe stretching quietly or hanging on the bar while downing a bottle of water, with his back to the bartender standing up arms stretched out minding his business, if it’s empty enough. Usually, headsets accompany me, noise-canceling mechanism, and earplugs to boot. I am in my own world because the world out there is very depressing. I listen to New Age music. I snack on fruits and have a plant-based diet. It’s a simple life, and I do a most depressing job. But I try to do my thing, ignore the constant fuss in and out of work, on my way there and back, watch a funny movie, write a few lines. It may have something to do with veganism. With my intellectual affinity? My good looks? It doesn’t matter, really. You get bad attention, good attention, what’s bad, they say, is not getting any. I don’t agree. I mean, some people love that kind of thing. Well, most people would. But attention isn't something I seek. Literature is my gift to this cynical world that swirls around a mediocre yellow star at dizzying speed.
Just like most people would swear off that if only they had more money, all of their problems would go away. You may have one or two things you think would change things for the better: a better partner, a better job, a perfect body. We focus on what’s lacking. Take fame and fortune, for instance. Fortune is arguably the better option. Everyone can agree that having more may not be bad, but that’s just it: no one’s claiming otherwise. But fame? That’s gotta suck. You hear it from celebrities themselves. Imagine having to worry about stepping outside, going anywhere, you’ll be greeted, little of your time will belong to you. Obama once said to Seinfield that anonymity is one of those things you really didn’t know you had until you lose it, and Seinfield jokingly replied: “Who needs that?” Of course, I’m paraphrasing but the exchange shows two very distinct positions on the subject of fame. Obama accepted it reluctantly, but Seinfeld actually welcomed it.
I retreat to my own world and shut out everything else. It’s not only safe inside, but it’s also comfy, easy-paced, laid-back. None of the excess we come across. Idealists dream of a better world which makes for fun reading, so you kind of take a look. Not that I do not believe in anything, I can only wish that was the case. The thing is that, quite frankly, this whole thing was a mess before I got here, it will probably continue to be so after I’m gone, so why sweat it? It’s not like I’d like to be welcomed like a herald of good news, but all these are stories, we get to choose the ones we adopt, the ones we find useful. It’s sort of a bad habit to take extremes, to take one view or the other. It doesn’t mean you do not have your mind already set on the way things should be, but you gotta work with what you have. And it’s quite simple: we suffer the lack of imaginary things. If we have food, shelter, and some peace of mind, and if we get to be with our loved ones and do the things we enjoy from time to time, well that’s not just any treasure. If we are healthy and satisfied with the things we have, working, and a hobby to pass time, who is going to argue you don’t have it better than kings in antiquity?
I may look alien to some. Usually, those who look the part are expected to play the part. So, why is it that I do not seek adventure? Or excitement? Who says I derive no pleasure from the way I do things and why is excitement such a big deal? Stoicism is misunderstood and put to use in our daily lives may appear far-fetch, listening to Marcus Aurelius and Seneca feels very much like wanting to conduct a monetary transaction with an aureus coin from ancient Rome: it may not be in circulation today, but it is far more valuable. Stoicism comes across as staunch and uptight, but if anyone had grown in ancient Athens, surrounded by the likes of Plato and Socrates, or if you grow up next to a faithful proponent of this philosophical marvel, it wouldn’t be quite so. I did not grow up surrounded by Stoics, but I did read some of their books, and that little bit of contact with their discipline has served me well. It made me reflect on the way our culture is, impulsive and in-the-moment, volatile, overtly emotional, and ostentatious.
With the introduction of Christianity to the empire, by the hand of the Roman emperor Constantine, who aimed to dethrone the empire’s rule to the east, enlist Christians to his cause by appealing to the cross symbol that appeared to him in a dream over the Sun god, Constantine succeeded in hybridizing two sects that up until then seemed irreconcilable: early Christianity and the polytheistic gods of the Roman people. By then, Christians had gained more both in popularity and political clout. Some were in positions of power, but up until that point if there was anything that every emperor before Constantine had agreed upon was that Christians should not be allowed mainstream within the empire. Emperor Constantine not only enlisted the help of Christians in his fight to consolidate power but converted himself to it and made Nicene Christianity the official religion of the empire.
Why is this important? Roman values were not compatible with those of early Christians. In fact, the values of early Christianity are not withheld by many of the religious that sprang off Christian belief though they may resemble a more adjacent ideological resonance to it than the Rome of those days. In synthesis, Rome had up until then persecuted Christians, it must’ve been a shock to find themselves Christian Roman citizens. To honor its creed, Christianity set about erasing any vistage of vice and pride that Rome stood for. It succeeded until it tried to take away the celebration of the solstice, nowadays known as Christmas. In these days of festivity, it was commonplace to roleplay: the rich would take the place of the poor and the poor would take the place of the rich. The Lord of Mischief was a destitute man selected among many willing in order to enjoy and do as he saw fit, able to eat and sleep like a noble, drink the finest wines, sleep with whomever he pleased. And at the end of the celebrations, he would be put to death.
Excitement, as well as boredom, are opposite expressions of the mind. In the case of boredom, we seek pleasure (say, by watching a movie, having a conversation, anything that makes the juices flow) to cancel out pain, but too much pleasure will cause the brain to seek a balance, a payback, a way to keep things in check. Therefore, intense pleasure, unequivocally, does cause pain. If it’s too much of a good thing, that’s also bad. You carry like genes all this baggage around, that’s why reading does to you, the right kind of literature will transform you and you’ll want more of that once you get a taste of it. It, too, is an addiction. Writing, too. You can’t help but feel like you’re good enough to be read. That’s, in essence, what worries the bad writer, am I a good enough writer? The answer, of course, will imply that yes, you’re, but if what you chase after is the satisfaction of being read, you’re missing the point. Writing isn’t about making others understand us; it’s about understanding ourselves. And when you deal with yourself through the written language, you’d analyze yourself as a therapist would do, you’d operate like a surgeon would, you’d want to make sure that’s what these words are for, not for some potential crowd out there. You think it takes about 24 minutes reading, try writing it. Writing is not easy, but once you get the hang of it, it can be enlightening.
I do work out, but very briefly and not every day. Keep active most of the time, but spend a significant amount of time doing absolutely nothing. Working out isn’t a hobby or a fix, it keeps me balanced, it makes life chirpier. And the diet, I didn’t do it for the animals. Initially, all I wanted was to lose weight and be healthier. If it spared a few living organisms, that was a nice thing, but so indifferent and abstract that I couldn’t possibly say I did something extraordinary for anyone except myself. Yeah, we’re selfish creatures, but our selfishness sometimes has positive byproducts. Afterward, I started to feel a lot more in sync with the world, I’d love to watch the sunrise, and started to feel for the animals, even insects. It’s weird, and if someone would’ve warned me this would’ve happened, I would’ve probably not go through with it. We don’t like to stop and savor the moment, breath it all in, and whatnot; we like things the way they’ve always been, but sometimes you do things that inherently impact the illusion of the one you are. You challenge yourself in such a way that you realize that the person you used to be is the one at odds. Who is this guy that used to eat differently than me, I may ask. But the most important question that preceded perhaps was, “How important is nutrition if I want to feel and look better than now?” That question leads to one day staring at yourself in the mirror and not recognizing what you see: Who is this person staring back at you, looking younger and fitter than ten years ago?”
The same thing one might say of the person we are right now, that person only gets to be in charge if it’s taking care of business. Otherwise, we analyze the process, envision a paradigm shift, and go about bringing things to reality. It’s hard but only to conceive, change for the better is, but change is a constant, whatever you do, it will happen. The change will take place, but we get to determine whether it is for better or worse. It is just as simple as it sounds.
Showering is something I do two to three times a week. Excessive cleanliness is bad business for our immune system. These things matter. It may sound excessive; it isn’t. And it’s not like I am telling you not to take a shower. Of course, the opposite can be worse. You do not want to be dirty, but you can’t be ultra-clean.
It’s not perfection we seek but balance; harmony. Some of the time, it is so. But in most cases, life is a lot like a long commercial. We do get to the show eventually but in the meantime, we bide our time, calibrate our effort and reminisce on things to come.
WRITTEN BY
Boris Amar
Earth is constantly bombarded by alien elements, in the form of asteroids that crash against our planet and end up as part of our atmosphere. Earth is nothing more than the accumulation of a zillion elements and chemical reactions puddled up together, uniquely observed thus far here but there is no reason to think that it may not have occurred elsewhere, too, in a not so distant galaxy.
So vast is the universe that not only is the concept of life emerging elsewhere a possibility but that at the same time, it may oh so far from us that we may not discover it in our lifetime. The most powerful telescopes have detected a host of planetary candidates orbiting at an ideal distance from their stars, that even if there were to not be auspicing life, they may one day serve as hospitable spots for future human generations in our interstellar quest. What we observe is limited by how far away that celestial body is, not only because it makes it harder to reach, but because what we observe in light-years away is a distance that roughly translates as to how these conditions were back then. So, if said planet is one hundred light-years away, not only does it mean that it will take us one hundred years traveling at the speed of light to reach; it also means that the favorable conditions observed now do not represent it as it is presently, but as it was one hundred light years ago. When we look at the stars at night, we are looking at their past, depending on how far away these are from us; our own star’s light traveling at 186,282 miles per second, takes about 8 minutes (499.0 seconds, to be exact) to reach earth, so when we look at the sun, we see it as it was eight minutes ago.
We miss the point that only the very best will get to be the first colonizers, that in all probability they’ll be eating a plant-based diet because there won’t be space for farms anytime soon. And plants are more resilient and thrive easier than animals in hostile habitats, as they rely less on movement, require only the energy of their star and some water. Animals are a luxury, and taking the most intelligent of them is animal enough. But these will not be the same animals, these would be the best of the best. If they’re to survive, the first colonizers are going to need to build a strong community and learn to cooperate, they will probably see themselves as the first true citizens of the universe having traveled so far, and knowing now that humankind is an interplanetary species. They will have to be minimalists, make more with less, and be highly ethical. Excess here will not hold, at least not in the foreseeable future.
When the American continent was discovered, it opened up a new world for explorers, adventurers, and oppressed people that migrated in search of a better life, the world had become smaller, especially with the advent of commercial flying. The world has been shrinking ever since, it is an interesting time to be alive. We may one day take a vacation on the moon or one of the moons of Jupiter, in the clouds of Venus, or underground caves on Mars.
It started small: Human prints on the moon. Hyperloop. Things, of unimaginable nature, were now possible. What if instead of a way to destroy one another, we were to look for a way to survive ourselves. To go above and beyond requires compromise, there’ll be risks and unfathomable challenges. We may see ourselves there, it’s only a matter of time and clever engineering. Wouldn’t it be awesome to be able one day to take a trip there? It is great and all, and it may pay off. It would be awesome if we could live in the clouds, not of Venus, but of our minds. Seeing ourselves as we do, as if one moment followed another, as opposed to how it metaphorically turns out to be: always running and anew, like a river. Too much to comprehend in a lifetime, and never enough time getting around to. Except things have come to a standstill with this pandemic. Never have I seen quieter, emptier streets in the thirty-some years I’ve lived in this city. Things are not picking up much, though a lot has changed. And it’s been a time that has a lot of downtimes, perfect for meditation, exercise, sleep, writing, reading, watching a lot of old TV shows on my laptop. It’s been a time that I thought instilled a sense of calm in a restless, tumultuous, always on. It’s been months, and things have changed little. Waiting was not on the agenda, postponing things neither. We miss the noise and traffic… oh wait, no. Not really, it’s just that since people used to get around more, now there are fewer people out and they are out because it is necessary. It creates more of that well-known tension. Everyone wearing a mask doesn’t make for a friendly environment and no one there observes safe distancing.
If they see you’re in your own head, worlds apart, maybe stretching quietly or hanging on the bar while downing a bottle of water, with his back to the bartender standing up arms stretched out minding his business, if it’s empty enough. Usually, headsets accompany me, noise-canceling mechanism, and earplugs to boot. I am in my own world because the world out there is very depressing. I listen to New Age music. I snack on fruits and have a plant-based diet. It’s a simple life, and I do a most depressing job. But I try to do my thing, ignore the constant fuss in and out of work, on my way there and back, watch a funny movie, write a few lines. It may have something to do with veganism. With my intellectual affinity? My good looks? It doesn’t matter, really. You get bad attention, good attention, what’s bad, they say, is not getting any. I don’t agree. I mean, some people love that kind of thing. Well, most people would. But attention isn't something I seek. Literature is my gift to this cynical world that swirls around a mediocre yellow star at dizzying speed.
Just like most people would swear off that if only they had more money, all of their problems would go away. You may have one or two things you think would change things for the better: a better partner, a better job, a perfect body. We focus on what’s lacking. Take fame and fortune, for instance. Fortune is arguably the better option. Everyone can agree that having more may not be bad, but that’s just it: no one’s claiming otherwise. But fame? That’s gotta suck. You hear it from celebrities themselves. Imagine having to worry about stepping outside, going anywhere, you’ll be greeted, little of your time will belong to you. Obama once said to Seinfield that anonymity is one of those things you really didn’t know you had until you lose it, and Seinfield jokingly replied: “Who needs that?” Of course, I’m paraphrasing but the exchange shows two very distinct positions on the subject of fame. Obama accepted it reluctantly, but Seinfeld actually welcomed it.
I retreat to my own world and shut out everything else. It’s not only safe inside, but it’s also comfy, easy-paced, laid-back. None of the excess we come across. Idealists dream of a better world which makes for fun reading, so you kind of take a look. Not that I do not believe in anything, I can only wish that was the case. The thing is that, quite frankly, this whole thing was a mess before I got here, it will probably continue to be so after I’m gone, so why sweat it? It’s not like I’d like to be welcomed like a herald of good news, but all these are stories, we get to choose the ones we adopt, the ones we find useful. It’s sort of a bad habit to take extremes, to take one view or the other. It doesn’t mean you do not have your mind already set on the way things should be, but you gotta work with what you have. And it’s quite simple: we suffer the lack of imaginary things. If we have food, shelter, and some peace of mind, and if we get to be with our loved ones and do the things we enjoy from time to time, well that’s not just any treasure. If we are healthy and satisfied with the things we have, working, and a hobby to pass time, who is going to argue you don’t have it better than kings in antiquity?
I may look alien to some. Usually, those who look the part are expected to play the part. So, why is it that I do not seek adventure? Or excitement? Who says I derive no pleasure from the way I do things and why is excitement such a big deal? Stoicism is misunderstood and put to use in our daily lives may appear far-fetch, listening to Marcus Aurelius and Seneca feels very much like wanting to conduct a monetary transaction with an aureus coin from ancient Rome: it may not be in circulation today, but it is far more valuable. Stoicism comes across as staunch and uptight, but if anyone had grown in ancient Athens, surrounded by the likes of Plato and Socrates, or if you grow up next to a faithful proponent of this philosophical marvel, it wouldn’t be quite so. I did not grow up surrounded by Stoics, but I did read some of their books, and that little bit of contact with their discipline has served me well. It made me reflect on the way our culture is, impulsive and in-the-moment, volatile, overtly emotional, and ostentatious.
With the introduction of Christianity to the empire, by the hand of the Roman emperor Constantine, who aimed to dethrone the empire’s rule to the east, enlist Christians to his cause by appealing to the cross symbol that appeared to him in a dream over the Sun god, Constantine succeeded in hybridizing two sects that up until then seemed irreconcilable: early Christianity and the polytheistic gods of the Roman people. By then, Christians had gained more both in popularity and political clout. Some were in positions of power, but up until that point if there was anything that every emperor before Constantine had agreed upon was that Christians should not be allowed mainstream within the empire. Emperor Constantine not only enlisted the help of Christians in his fight to consolidate power but converted himself to it and made Nicene Christianity the official religion of the empire.
Why is this important? Roman values were not compatible with those of early Christians. In fact, the values of early Christianity are not withheld by many of the religious that sprang off Christian belief though they may resemble a more adjacent ideological resonance to it than the Rome of those days. In synthesis, Rome had up until then persecuted Christians, it must’ve been a shock to find themselves Christian Roman citizens. To honor its creed, Christianity set about erasing any vistage of vice and pride that Rome stood for. It succeeded until it tried to take away the celebration of the solstice, nowadays known as Christmas. In these days of festivity, it was commonplace to roleplay: the rich would take the place of the poor and the poor would take the place of the rich. The Lord of Mischief was a destitute man selected among many willing in order to enjoy and do as he saw fit, able to eat and sleep like a noble, drink the finest wines, sleep with whomever he pleased. And at the end of the celebrations, he would be put to death.
Excitement, as well as boredom, are opposite expressions of the mind. In the case of boredom, we seek pleasure (say, by watching a movie, having a conversation, anything that makes the juices flow) to cancel out pain, but too much pleasure will cause the brain to seek a balance, a payback, a way to keep things in check. Therefore, intense pleasure, unequivocally, does cause pain. If it’s too much of a good thing, that’s also bad. You carry like genes all this baggage around, that’s why reading does to you, the right kind of literature will transform you and you’ll want more of that once you get a taste of it. It, too, is an addiction. Writing, too. You can’t help but feel like you’re good enough to be read. That’s, in essence, what worries the bad writer, am I a good enough writer? The answer, of course, will imply that yes, you’re, but if what you chase after is the satisfaction of being read, you’re missing the point. Writing isn’t about making others understand us; it’s about understanding ourselves. And when you deal with yourself through the written language, you’d analyze yourself as a therapist would do, you’d operate like a surgeon would, you’d want to make sure that’s what these words are for, not for some potential crowd out there. You think it takes about 24 minutes reading, try writing it. Writing is not easy, but once you get the hang of it, it can be enlightening.
I do work out, but very briefly and not every day. Keep active most of the time, but spend a significant amount of time doing absolutely nothing. Working out isn’t a hobby or a fix, it keeps me balanced, it makes life chirpier. And the diet, I didn’t do it for the animals. Initially, all I wanted was to lose weight and be healthier. If it spared a few living organisms, that was a nice thing, but so indifferent and abstract that I couldn’t possibly say I did something extraordinary for anyone except myself. Yeah, we’re selfish creatures, but our selfishness sometimes has positive byproducts. Afterward, I started to feel a lot more in sync with the world, I’d love to watch the sunrise, and started to feel for the animals, even insects. It’s weird, and if someone would’ve warned me this would’ve happened, I would’ve probably not go through with it. We don’t like to stop and savor the moment, breath it all in, and whatnot; we like things the way they’ve always been, but sometimes you do things that inherently impact the illusion of the one you are. You challenge yourself in such a way that you realize that the person you used to be is the one at odds. Who is this guy that used to eat differently than me, I may ask. But the most important question that preceded perhaps was, “How important is nutrition if I want to feel and look better than now?” That question leads to one day staring at yourself in the mirror and not recognizing what you see: Who is this person staring back at you, looking younger and fitter than ten years ago?”
The same thing one might say of the person we are right now, that person only gets to be in charge if it’s taking care of business. Otherwise, we analyze the process, envision a paradigm shift, and go about bringing things to reality. It’s hard but only to conceive, change for the better is, but change is a constant, whatever you do, it will happen. The change will take place, but we get to determine whether it is for better or worse. It is just as simple as it sounds.
Showering is something I do two to three times a week. Excessive cleanliness is bad business for our immune system. These things matter. It may sound excessive; it isn’t. And it’s not like I am telling you not to take a shower. Of course, the opposite can be worse. You do not want to be dirty, but you can’t be ultra-clean.
It’s not perfection we seek but balance; harmony. Some of the time, it is so. But in most cases, life is a lot like a long commercial. We do get to the show eventually but in the meantime, we bide our time, calibrate our effort and reminisce on things to come.
WRITTEN BY
Boris Amar
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