The Delusional Martian (Part 1 of 2)

How the Quest for Colonizing Mars Represents Delusion and Displacement (Vol. 5; Issue 16)

Most people think of psychosis as looking like a guy I see most days when walking into my office building in Old Pasadena. Suntanned, unbathed, caked with dirt and wrapped in a filthy blanket, he shouts obscenities while walking along Colorado Boulevard. It’s painful to witness. However, and in truth, many psychotic conditions present in a subtle way.

For example, I evaluated a physician* years ago suspected of having an “encapsulated psychosis.” A colleague reported her to the Medical Board (MB) because she told him:

A man broke into my house and dissected out a one inch square piece of my buttocks. He also eviscerated my cat.

The police report she filed made no mention of any injury to her person or to her cat. The subject line of the report reads, “personal disturbance.” The Sergeant who signed it made a note to “investigate further,” but no follow-up ever occurred. A report from her personal physician, obtained after the alleged incident, made no mention of any scar. She also knew of her patient’s complaint, and, therefore, examined her patient’s buttocks area. There was no evidence of any lesion.

Referred by the MB for a psychological evaluation, the doctor presented as a casually dressed, nicely groomed, professional-appearing woman in her mid-50s. Her mental status examination was normal; she presented her personal history in a coherent manner. It was only when I referred to the reports of this surgery on her buttocks, while she slept, that the psychotic part of her—almost a distinct personality—emerged. I read her the key parts of what I knew, e.g., the police report, verbatim. She replied:

Yes, it’s true, the incision was about one inch squared, someone came in during the night, and left no traces. They surgically dissected my cat.

Nothing abnormal appeared until literally that moment. When I told her that neither her MD nor the police had observed evidence of disturbing event, she added:

I’m telling you, doctor, this happened to me. I don’t care what those documents say.

Further questioning revealed other minor areas of psychotic thinking, irrelevant to this essay’s theme. Suffice to say this woman suffered from what is formally known as an encapsulated psychosis.**

Even minimal research into enthusiasts interested in colonizing Mars reveal the same psychotic condition. Basically, it is delusional to think we humans could establish another host planet on Mars. In fairness, these ideas could maybe become realized in, say, 300 years. In the meantime, consider these daunting challenges:

Aeronautic engineers have yet to design a sufficiently powerful and versatile spacecraft to make it to Mars. They are even further away from designing modules for living spaces on the planet. Both the spacecraft and the modules require life-support systems not currently available or even conceivable given the challenges of the Martian environment.

Dayna Ise, director of the Mars Campaign Office within NASA’s Exploration Systems Development Mission Directorate, considers communication one of the most significant challenges. She explains:

Because of Mars’ distance, it’s a much bigger delay, between four and 24 minutes one way, so it could take over 40 minutes round trip for someone to ask a question and then get a reply.