The Value of Life in Extreme Isolation

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Let’s say you are on the first manned mission to Mars and something goes terribly wrong.Your space craft overshoots the planet. You don’t have enough fuel to turn around , communications are damaged so there is no way to reach out earth, but life support is still working and you’ve got enough food to last you a few years.

In such a situation do you have any moral conflicts with ending it all or would you try to stay alive for as long as you have the resources to do so?
 
ThinkingSapien said:
Let’s say you are on the first manned mission to Mars and something goes terribly wrong.Your space craft overshoots the planet. You don’t have enough fuel to turn around , communications are damaged so there is no way to reach out earth, but life support is still working and you’ve got enough food to last you a few years.

In such a situation do you have any moral conflicts with ending it all or would you try to stay alive for as long as you have the resources to do so?
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No scenario can justify suicide. It is quite simply acting against the Will of God. I think I would quite enjoy the isolation, apart from missing my loved ones. Especially if I had the Bible, my Divine Missal and the Imitation of Christ by Thomas A Kempis. Heaven:)
 
I would stay alive as long as possible and try rationing the food to last a little bit longer. It is still possible that earth could find me before I would die of starvation.
 
You’ve obviously not watched enough sci-fi - some cute alien female ALWAYS comes along!

If you’re very lucky perhaps T’pol will rescue you and give you tea!
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ThinkingSapien said:
Let’s say you are on the first manned mission to Mars and something goes terribly wrong.Your space craft overshoots the planet. You don’t have enough fuel to turn around , communications are damaged so there is no way to reach out earth, but life support is still working and you’ve got enough food to last you a few years.

In such a situation do you have any moral conflicts with ending it all or would you try to stay alive for as long as you have the resources to do so?
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Why would a person on earth become a hermit? What value does his life have, if he is completely isolated from others?

There is no time or space in eternity. On Mars or in a cave, prayer is the most powerful tool at the disposal of humankind.

OF COURSE you don’t suicide. There is work to do.
 
Julia_Mae said:
Why would a person on earth become a hermit?
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Don’t know. I’ve never encountered any hermits (understandably). Having zero experience and knowledge with them I can’t say much with certainity. Though I can’t help but think that even a hermit isn’t as isolated as a person functionally chained to to a compartment on which their life is dependent.
Julia_Mae said:
What value does his life have, if he is completely isolated from others?
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Between my thoughts and the responses that I’ve seen thus far it seems that the anticipation of the isolation being brought to an end is where the emphasis is being shifted. I think that if the isolation was asured and if there was no hope for a rescue mission (and the anticipation for a rescue is effectively killed) I’d expect there to be a decline in the value that one would put in their own future and their own life from that point on.
 
ThinkingSapien said:
I think that if the isolation was asured and if there was no hope for a rescue mission (and the anticipation for a rescue is effectively killed) I’d expect there to be a decline in the value that one would put in their own future and their own life from that point on.
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I agree a person is likely to do that. They’d be wrong.

Time and space didn’t stop Padre Pio from travelling mystically far away to bring comfort and healing. If you believe your life is confined to your physical self and only has meaning in that your physical self has interaction with other physical persons, then, the ineluctable conclusion is: Life in isolation has no value.

But when you know life is eternal, that you are never alone and cannot be, then you know you have work to do and things to accomplish and help to do that.

No one knows the value of their own life while in Time, and so, no one can dismiss the value of that life.
 
You stay alive as long as your mind and body permit.

Remember, NASA managed to turn a space probe around that for some reason had missed it’s target, steered it back around Earth, and into another rendezvous with the objective. They did all that even though there was no one in the spacecraft. Methinks that far more effort would be put into retrieving a human being.

But even if they couldn’t, what better way to die than among the stars of Heaven? What better resting place than the depths of space?

Why spoil such a rest through the shamefulness of suicide?

Our LORD will take you to Himself when you are ready; you need every breath you are given to prepare for HIM.

ICXC NIKA
 
ThinkingSapien said:
Let’s say you are on the first manned mission to Mars and something goes terribly wrong.Your space craft overshoots the planet. You don’t have enough fuel to turn around , communications are damaged so there is no way to reach out earth, but life support is still working and you’ve got enough food to last you a few years.

In such a situation do you have any moral conflicts with ending it all or would you try to stay alive for as long as you have the resources to do so?
Click to expand...
Thinking:

Can you imagine: for the first time in you knowing life, no pressure! 👍

I would hope for at least one good book.

God bless,
jd
 
complete isolation is torture. you may change your mind if actually faced with it.
 
GEddie said:
You stay alive as long as your mind and body permit.

Remember, NASA managed to turn a space probe around that for some reason had missed it’s target, steered it back around Earth, and into another rendezvous with the objective. They did all that even though there was no one in the spacecraft. Methinks that far more effort would be put into retrieving a human being.
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It sounds like the motivation for staying alive here is based off of the anticipation of a rescue. If the scenario were a little different (let’s say thrusters fail making the craft unable to enter orbit to its destination planet but communications still work and NASA is able to tell you that they have no vehicle capable of performing a recovery). If there is no hope for a rescue what then would be your motivation for staying alive?
GEddie said:
But even if they couldn’t, what better way to die than among the stars of Heaven? What better resting place than the depths of space?

Why spoil such a rest through the shamefulness of suicide?
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Personally I can think of many other ways to die that would be preferable compared to this scenario. Whether one sees it as being “among the stars of the heaven” or “in the blackness of the void” something about it is still unsettling to me.
 
Julia_Mae said:
But when you know life is eternal, that you are never alone and cannot be, then you know you have work to do and things to accomplish and help to do that.
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What work would one have to do while trapped what will become their coffin? What could the person accomplish or do for any one else?
 
ThinkingSapien said:
Let’s say you are on the first manned mission to Mars and something goes terribly wrong.Your space craft overshoots the planet. You don’t have enough fuel to turn around , communications are damaged so there is no way to reach out earth, but life support is still working and you’ve got enough food to last you a few years.

In such a situation do you have any moral conflicts with ending it all or would you try to stay alive for as long as you have the resources to do so?
Click to expand...
I’d knock politely on the hatch, and call out, “Hello…oo…oo! Is there anybody out there?”

Seriously, this question reminds me of a comment my old pastor made about the effect of solitary confinement on tough, hardened criminals. He’d been a prison pastor for a while, and he was amazed at the disciplining effect it had. Most of them feared it.

This would be solitary confinement for years on end. I think there’d be a distinct chance of the person going mad, and thus losing moral responsibility regarding suicide.
 
JDaniel said:
Thinking:

Can you imagine: for the first time in you knowing life, no pressure! 👍

I would hope for at least one good book.

God bless,
jd
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I’d hope for two books (Halliday & Resnick’s Fundamentals of Physics and Jackson’s Electrodynamics) and lots of paper and/or a computer in which I can save the work I did in solving all the problems.
 
Bob_Crowley said:
Seriously, this question reminds me of a comment my old pastor made about the effect of solitary confinement on tough, hardened criminals. He’d been a prison pastor for a while, and he was amazed at the disciplining effect it had. Most of them feared it.
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Yeah, I’ve many times heard that it was a much feared punishment. In the case of some one in prison there’s usually a good chance that their solitude will eventually come to an end.
Bob_Crowley said:
This would be solitary confinement for years on end. I think there’d be a distinct chance of the person going mad, and thus losing moral responsibility regarding suicide.
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Good point. That would impact the mental health drastically.
 
Considering I am claustrophobic, I wouldn’t be on that manned Mars mission in the first place, but assuming I was press-ganged into being on the ship, came to and realized I was trapped…I’d probably open the hatch within minutes.
 
ThinkingSapien said:
What work would one have to do while trapped what will become their coffin? What could the person accomplish or do for any one else?
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I believe I already explained that. Google: Padre Pio for more info. Become educated on the power of prayer and the “exchange of spiritual goods.” That life in isolation can be far more useful than any other life the person could lead and more rewarding.
 
Bob_Crowley said:
I’d knock politely on the hatch, and call out, “Hello…oo…oo! Is there anybody out there?”

Seriously, this question reminds me of a comment my old pastor made about the effect of solitary confinement on tough, hardened criminals. He’d been a prison pastor for a while, and he was amazed at the disciplining effect it had. Most of them feared it.

This would be solitary confinement for years on end. I think there’d be a distinct chance of the person going mad, and thus losing moral responsibility regarding suicide.
Click to expand...
There is an important distinction between solitary, as in alone, and sense deprivation. In the context of prison they usually go together, but IMNAAHO deprivation of the senses (as achieved by hoods, ear and nose plugs, or prison “holes”) is harder on the mind than just being alone. Some people, ie, solo sailors, do quite well apart from others.

Wasn’t there a Soviet cosmonaut who set a duration record, over a year, solo in one of their space stations? Although a lack of weight weakened his body, he seemed to take it well mentally.

ISTM that any mental distress would result from contemplation of one’s impending death. But some saints have used just that to spiritual advantage, eg., Saint John of the Cross with a skull on his desk.

ICXC NIKA
 
I don’t think I could say that there’s no hope for rescue. Even if present technology makes rescue impossible, technology is always being advanced. With a few years of food, I may live long enough for a rescue to be possible.

However, let’s assume the chance of rescue is negligible. Further, let’s assume I do not deceive myself about this fact. There are really two issues I have to deal with, not one. There are isolation and despair. These are not one and the same. (I think this is the point Julia Mae made about hermits.)

The isolation would be more difficult for some people than for others. Some people are just naturally more inclined to solitude. These people would probably suffer less from the isolation. Since this ship is a manned mission to Mars, I’m assuming it’s equipped to provide sources of exercise, education, and entertainment (e.g. treadmill, books, movies, etc.).

Let’s say I have a high tolerance for being alone. I keep myself busy. I write my memoirs. (Sooner or later someone’s likely to salvage the ship.) I postpone my mental breakdown for a surprisingly long time.

The big question is: how do I avoid despair? If I’m physically and mentally healthy, if I have something with which to occupy the hours, how do I not despair that everything I do is for nothing? (Of course, I don’t have to be lost in space to despair that everything I do is for nothing.)

But this question reveals another question behind it: What gives value to life?

Is it my relationship with people ?
Is it my relationship with God?
Is it my relationship with myself?

If it’s solely my relationship with other people (e.g. contributing to society, enjoying their company), I’m least equipped to tolerate my situation because there are no other people for me to have a relationship with.*

If it’s my relationship with God, I’m best equipped to tolerate the situation since my relationship with God is unaffected by my isolation (unless the absence of the sacraments endangers my soul. Does it? Someone please help out here.)

What if I don’t believe in God? I suppose I might have a relationship with my Self instead of with God. But this doesn’t strike me as a relationship that would save me from despair. I’m not prolonging my life for the good of other people. I’m not prolonging it in obedience to God. There doesn’t seem to be any reason to prolong it more than I want to.
  • Sneaky me–Earlier I said I would write my memoirs for future generations that salvage my ship.
 
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