What to bring to Mars
I expect that someone in my family will be on Mars in the next 10 generations. After all, I'm part of a tribe that travels. My ancestors were constantly on the road, exploring opportunities for their next generation and the ones that come after. It's baked into my genes.
But it presents a conundrum.
What mindset, skills and tools can I - as a parent - give my child, that would serve them on Mars.
Where all our frameworks are suspended.
Where the day is not 24 hours.
Where the seasons do not follow each other.
Where the air and gravity do not support us.
When we mess with the core structures we take for granted, the frame on which we hang all the other elements of our lives, what do we use for frameworks? What can I offer?
I choose to give my children the same skills that my great-great-grandparents gave theirs. They had no clue of the culture that would support their offspring. They crossed oceans.
So they passed along heirloom skills. We are calling them EQ skills in this age. But really, they are the gems of survival that have been lovingly polished and passed down generation to generation:
- Critical thinking
- Reading signals
- Collaborating
- Risk taking
- Communicating
- Caring for others in your community
- Positive thinking
Skills such as these allowed us to explore the world, to move from barren to fertile land,to create tools from the materials available to us, to experiment, to build, to create societies. To sustain each other.
I did not mention God.
I do not think you can survive if you do not believe in some higher power.