Tom
An Old Friend
Lets explore what it takes to be a human being. Starting with the basic requirements. Many of us delude ourselves into thinking we could not live without things. As I see it, there are only a few actual requirements to live.
Such as;
Air-
We need air to breathe. Not just any air, a specific concoction of chemicals in our atmosphere. Change the elements or the ratios by a significant amount and we die.
Speculative fiction explores this with space suits, environmental suits, habitats, enclosed ecosystems, atmospheric plants and terraforming. If you think about it, the air we breathe is a result of our planets creation, unique to this planet only. The oxygen levels have been decreasing over time as the planet ages. In the past there was more oxygen and in the future there will be less. Try to imagine a world with half the oxygen we now have. What will life look like? What adaptation would our bodies take to survive in such a world? We need our air to survive.
Heat-
Our bodies require an Earth-like temperature range to survive. Even so, there are places on this planet where slight variations in temperature can kill us. The range of those temperatures are reduced because we have developed means to protect our bodies from the elements. Clothes, shelter, heating systems and cooling systems have opened our planet to us. Imagine if we were naked. Could we survive where you live right now?
Our planet is heated by many variables that you may not know about. Not only does our star warm our planet, it has internal heat as well as tidal friction caused by our moon. Static electricity created by our atmospheric processes causes lightning that also provides us with warmth. Animal bodies generate heat as we burn calories and industrial and electronics industries generate heat. The heat that we know is unique to us. Imagine a planet that has different heat sources. Temperatures could vary to extremes that we are not accustomed to. On the flip-flop, temperatures that are static may be detrimental to our bodies because we evolved in temperature fluctuations. Imagine a place where temperature may swing from 90 deg to -130 to 160 in a matter of minutes. Also try to imagine a place where the temperature is 94 deg (+-)2 deg all the time. We need our heat to survive.
Water-
Our bodies need water. Specific water at a specific temperature. H2O is not the only elements of our water. Our water is processed by a unique cycle on our planet. The moon churns the water and mixes elements of earth and air into the mix. We purify the water so our bodies can use it. Some water can kill us. Even on our own planet. There is biological contamination, radiated and heavy water to name a few. Any exploration to another planet would require us to be able to purify the waters for our bodies to use it. Water may be abundant in the universe but purification devices may not be. Imagine being somewhere there is abundant water but it is laden with chemicals that our bodies cannot handle. We need our water to survive.
Food-
We must have a constant supply of food for our bodies. All the food we have ever eaten has been from our planet. Whether its raw meat, raw plant or enzymes. Even processed food is made from elements found on this planet. Imagine a forest planet where life is abundant yet there is a planetary element that is toxic to our systems. Food everywhere but all of it would kill you if you ate it. Imagine a place where the food you eat wont kill you but your body burns it too rapidly and it doesn't support our calorie needs. You eat tremendous amounts and remain hungry. Soon you starve to death with a full tummy. We need our food to survive.
Gravity-
Gravity you say? Why is that a necessity to survival? Well, think about it. We know recently that astronauts loose bone mass and have muscle failure in microgravity. We know that pilots of supersonic jets can pass out and die from excessive gee forces. We evolve on this planet at this gravity but our planet is not the only thing that establishes our gravitational needs. The moon pulls on the planet which creates variables in our gravity that is cyclic. The mass of our star offsets the planets gravity tho we cant feel it. We are accustomed to our gravity. Imagine a world where there are variations to our gravitational norm. No moon, Larger or smaller planet, different heavy elements, larger or smaller star, closer or more distant celestial objects. What changes would our bodies feel? Would we have super-strength or be weaklings. What affects would this have on our long term health. Would we be able to digest food? In addition, what would happen to the atmosphere and solid ground under our feet. Could we walk on water or sink into the planet surface? Could we fly or glide?
Chances are there are very few planets that can match our earthlike gravity. We need our gravity to survive.
Sunlight-
If you think about it we are dependent on our specific sunlight to survive. We evolved in the radiation of our parent star. The sun's specific composition causes its radiation to have specific properties. Our atmosphere also changes the solar radiation to accommodate our planet's life. In space, astronauts need to shield themselves from the direct effects of solar radiation. Imagine a place where the star has a different chemical composition. The planet has an element in its atmosphere that changes its light. Would our eyes be able to see at all? Perhaps we could see a sub-spectrum or super-spectrum. What if the light just instantly blinded you? What would changes in the light do to your skin? What if the light penetrated deeper into your bodies. what would you look like if you could see peoples skeletons or food digesting? What would it do to your internal body processes? We need our light to survive.
What other basic requirements are needed for humans to survive. Not amenities, just basic life process. We get accustomed to things in our daily live that we feel must be there or we will die but most of those things are not actually required for us to survive. For instance, we need shelter but we dont need a home. We need food but we dont need to actually like the taste. Do we need companionship? Do we need words? Is reproduction a requirement of life? We are alive before we reproduce, right?
Such as;
Air-
We need air to breathe. Not just any air, a specific concoction of chemicals in our atmosphere. Change the elements or the ratios by a significant amount and we die.
Speculative fiction explores this with space suits, environmental suits, habitats, enclosed ecosystems, atmospheric plants and terraforming. If you think about it, the air we breathe is a result of our planets creation, unique to this planet only. The oxygen levels have been decreasing over time as the planet ages. In the past there was more oxygen and in the future there will be less. Try to imagine a world with half the oxygen we now have. What will life look like? What adaptation would our bodies take to survive in such a world? We need our air to survive.
Heat-
Our bodies require an Earth-like temperature range to survive. Even so, there are places on this planet where slight variations in temperature can kill us. The range of those temperatures are reduced because we have developed means to protect our bodies from the elements. Clothes, shelter, heating systems and cooling systems have opened our planet to us. Imagine if we were naked. Could we survive where you live right now?
Our planet is heated by many variables that you may not know about. Not only does our star warm our planet, it has internal heat as well as tidal friction caused by our moon. Static electricity created by our atmospheric processes causes lightning that also provides us with warmth. Animal bodies generate heat as we burn calories and industrial and electronics industries generate heat. The heat that we know is unique to us. Imagine a planet that has different heat sources. Temperatures could vary to extremes that we are not accustomed to. On the flip-flop, temperatures that are static may be detrimental to our bodies because we evolved in temperature fluctuations. Imagine a place where temperature may swing from 90 deg to -130 to 160 in a matter of minutes. Also try to imagine a place where the temperature is 94 deg (+-)2 deg all the time. We need our heat to survive.
Water-
Our bodies need water. Specific water at a specific temperature. H2O is not the only elements of our water. Our water is processed by a unique cycle on our planet. The moon churns the water and mixes elements of earth and air into the mix. We purify the water so our bodies can use it. Some water can kill us. Even on our own planet. There is biological contamination, radiated and heavy water to name a few. Any exploration to another planet would require us to be able to purify the waters for our bodies to use it. Water may be abundant in the universe but purification devices may not be. Imagine being somewhere there is abundant water but it is laden with chemicals that our bodies cannot handle. We need our water to survive.
Food-
We must have a constant supply of food for our bodies. All the food we have ever eaten has been from our planet. Whether its raw meat, raw plant or enzymes. Even processed food is made from elements found on this planet. Imagine a forest planet where life is abundant yet there is a planetary element that is toxic to our systems. Food everywhere but all of it would kill you if you ate it. Imagine a place where the food you eat wont kill you but your body burns it too rapidly and it doesn't support our calorie needs. You eat tremendous amounts and remain hungry. Soon you starve to death with a full tummy. We need our food to survive.
Gravity-
Gravity you say? Why is that a necessity to survival? Well, think about it. We know recently that astronauts loose bone mass and have muscle failure in microgravity. We know that pilots of supersonic jets can pass out and die from excessive gee forces. We evolve on this planet at this gravity but our planet is not the only thing that establishes our gravitational needs. The moon pulls on the planet which creates variables in our gravity that is cyclic. The mass of our star offsets the planets gravity tho we cant feel it. We are accustomed to our gravity. Imagine a world where there are variations to our gravitational norm. No moon, Larger or smaller planet, different heavy elements, larger or smaller star, closer or more distant celestial objects. What changes would our bodies feel? Would we have super-strength or be weaklings. What affects would this have on our long term health. Would we be able to digest food? In addition, what would happen to the atmosphere and solid ground under our feet. Could we walk on water or sink into the planet surface? Could we fly or glide?
Chances are there are very few planets that can match our earthlike gravity. We need our gravity to survive.
Sunlight-
If you think about it we are dependent on our specific sunlight to survive. We evolved in the radiation of our parent star. The sun's specific composition causes its radiation to have specific properties. Our atmosphere also changes the solar radiation to accommodate our planet's life. In space, astronauts need to shield themselves from the direct effects of solar radiation. Imagine a place where the star has a different chemical composition. The planet has an element in its atmosphere that changes its light. Would our eyes be able to see at all? Perhaps we could see a sub-spectrum or super-spectrum. What if the light just instantly blinded you? What would changes in the light do to your skin? What if the light penetrated deeper into your bodies. what would you look like if you could see peoples skeletons or food digesting? What would it do to your internal body processes? We need our light to survive.
What other basic requirements are needed for humans to survive. Not amenities, just basic life process. We get accustomed to things in our daily live that we feel must be there or we will die but most of those things are not actually required for us to survive. For instance, we need shelter but we dont need a home. We need food but we dont need to actually like the taste. Do we need companionship? Do we need words? Is reproduction a requirement of life? We are alive before we reproduce, right?