Solitude, my lonely friend!

One of the most significant drawbacks in the manning of a human-crewed mission to Mars is the mental strength (or rather lack of) of astronauts in being able to stay sane over extremely protracted times in solitary confinements. After all, can one stay for 4 years in the company of the same boring company?

They say that Man is a social animal and he needs friends and company to live. Deprive him of the ability to interact with his fellow kind and be sure that he would hit the loony bin. They fight, they laugh, they cry together, they loathe each other, but they need each other to survive! So say the scientists. A man needs to compete with each other or emulate each other to come out with a newer protocol for the next generation to improve so that they can continue surviving as the most dominant species on the planet. Perhaps, they would remain as the only species as they annihilate other 'less' intelligent ones. Once they have done that, they would step into an intra-special attack of their own kind and ride majestically into Armageddon!

On the other hand, look at the lives of some of the greatest men who had imparted some of the highest wisdom to mankind. Jesus Christ and Abraham allegedly ventured out in the wilderness to be in isolation to come out with a recipe for people to live. Buddha embarked on a journey of self-discovery just to discover so many secrets of the world, including advanced Molecular Physics! Sigmund Freud valued his daily long walks to think out his theories of the mind. Nietzsche stayed in the wild to explore many unanswered questions about life. Heidegger also advocated solitude by spending time in the countryside or even the graveyards to appreciate life!

Through the art of introspection, the key to the secrets of our being had been explored. With the pleasure of the company of the fellow kind, what do we get? Merrymaking, drunkenness and the after effects of temporary insanity, the post stupor morose over spilt milk, the hangover of the morning-after, desire to get even, war, chaos and utmost misery. Is it a plot to keep our minds numbed and docile whilst the master planner sharpen their steely knives to put forth their secret agendas?

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