Biological and Cultural Dimensions of
Human Space Colonization
Cameron M. Smith, PhD
Dept. of Anthropology
Portland State University
Future in Space Working Group Telecon
NASA – University of Texas – Austin
July 2014
[email protected]
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Premises
NASA’s largest goals all have to do with living things:
To Improve Life Here
To Extend life There
To Find Life Beyond
“Nothing in biology makes sense except in the light of evolution.”
-- T. Dobzhanzky, 1973
Many others of course also focusing on space settlement after a
generation-long hiatus in interest.
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Premises
Space colonization will be a natural
continuation of four million years of
hominin adaptation.
We require a science of
‘Extraterrestrial Adaptation’
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Humanity has long considered space colonization.
Recently however, exploration.
To accomplish colonization, we require a significant shift in thought;
INDIVIDUALS
BIOLOGY


COMMUNITIES
ANTHROPOLOGY
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Where to begin?
My book in production:
Principles of Space Anthropology
Establishing a Science of Human Space Colonization
PART I
BIOLOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
PART II
CULTURAL ANTHROPOLOGY
PART III
EXOARCHAEOLOGY AND MATERIAL CULTURE
PART IV
SPACE COLONIZATION AS ADAPTIVE EVOLUTION
Focus of this
talk
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People are biological = biology evolves.
Evolution = change of gene frequencies in a population over time.
Our genome continues to evolve.
Main factors
•
•
•
•
Mutation
Migration
Selection
Drift
How do these play out in ‘humans-in-space’?
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Mutation
result of mutagenesis
mutagens e.g. x-rays, cosmic rays
failure of repair mechanisms
mutagenesis introduces variation
variation = diversity
diversity = genetic health of a population
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mutation allows adult
lactose tolerance for half
the world’s population
mutation allows more
efficient blood oxygenation
in some high-altitude
populations (ATRX gene)…
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We can expect that both beneficial and deleterious mutations
will arise off-Earth.
Brings us to selection (next slides)
• gas composition (e.g. 60% oxygen?)
• gas pressure (c.1/3 Earth normal?)
• gravity variation from 1g?
These will differ from Earth Normal conditions that have
shaped human embryo development for millions of years.
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Migration
introduces or reduces variation
‘founder effect’ will be strong with population c.40,000
must represent global human diversity
but should screen against worst of mendelian disorders
 caution! ‘melting of mendelian paradigm!’ 
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Who will compose “the 40,000” for an Ark?
Who will compose the population of a gradually-growing Mars
settlement?
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Selection
reduces variation by eliminating deleterious variations
Many in ‘Developing world’ ‘still’ under selection e.g.
against disease
‘Developed world’ = selection current in fetal chemistry,
found to include gasoline and pesticides.
Selection will return on all scales:
Earth orbital
L-point
moon
Mars
interstellar ark
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The new ‘selective environments’ for humanity will include:
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•
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New gas composition (e.g. 44% oxygen?)
New gas pressure (c.1/3 Earth normal?)
New gravity variation from 1g
These will differ from Earth Normal conditions that have shaped human development for
millions of years.
Examples:
Amphibian embryo
development severely
affected in high-oxygen,
lower-pressure
environments.
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Selection
Likely greater infant mortality rates than in ‘Developed
World’ over last century.
How long should we ‘push’ an Earth genome off-Earth?
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Drift
Random increase or decrease of a gene
Can be linked to other genes
‘neutral’ theory of evolution
You don’t have 1.2 children,
you have whole numbers, e.g. 1 or 2 etc.
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Drift can include bottleneck effect of catastrophe:
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So for Biological Survival;
1. Be genetically diverse.
2. Be numerous.
3. Be widespread.
These are precisely the factors leading to longevity of
species in the fossil record.
Learn from evolution!
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Genetically diverse
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Numerous
do not work with “Minimum Viable Population”
rather, cultivate large numbers quickly
So, how numerous?
With safety factor to maintain MVP above 7,000 = 18,000-44,000
40,000 = 8 * 5,000-person ‘villages’ or ‘towns’ = reasonable over 5 gens
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Widespread
achieved by settlement independent of Earth
biologically, culturally, economically & politically
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Cultural Evolution
Where to begin?
Human Universals
 organizing variables found in all human groups
 ‘contents’ differ but must be addressed by all humans
Basic Needs
Cultural Responses
Metabolism
Reproduction
Bodily comforts
Safety
Movement
Growth
Health
foodways
kinship rules
clothing and shelter
protective arrangements
activities
training / enculturation
hygene
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Example
Language
Specific spoken and gestural
(bodily) systems of
communication, including
vocabularies and grammars.
Some languages assign gender
to nouns, while others do not.
Will language change beyond Earth?
Of course;
1. vocabulary (new phenomena; what use ‘whale’ on Mars?)
2. gesture, dialect and accent (cannot whistle in Skylab atmosphere)
3. prosody (founding composition of colony sub-populations?)
…and dialect is not without social
significance!
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Example
Social Roles
Rights and responsibilities differ
by categories such as age
(child, adult), gender (man,
woman), and status (peasant,
King).
Cultures differ in the ages at
which people take on certain
rights and responsibilities, and
specifically what those rights and
responsibilities are.
Will social roles change? Of course;
1. economy / social ranking?
2. greater life span?
3. de-emphasis on pop growth = new age groups
4. emphasis on pop growth = new age groups
What social organization beyond Earth?
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Example
Food Preferences
Concepts of what are
appropriate food and drink in
certain situations.
Some cultures eat certain animals
while others consider them unfit
to eat.
Will foodways change? Of course;
1. different set of domesticates
-- note biology of domesticates also important to safeguard!
2. non-global variety
3. use of food to communicate & reiterate cultural identity
svid
hakarl
Icelandic ‘hakarl’ = fermented shark…important to traditional life
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Example
Ultimate Sacred
Postulates
Central, unquestionable
concepts about the nature of
reality.
Some cultures consider time to
be cyclic while others consider it
linear.
Will USP’s change? Who can say?
1. how will ‘universal perspective’ affect concepts
of human specialness?
2. can Earth-based religious traditions flourish far from Earth?
Nicholas of Cusa
Can we expect such enormous changes of perspective as seen in our history?
Can we expect change in philosophy on order of the Renaissance (or Dark Ages!)?
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Example
Ethics
Concepts of right and wrong,
justice, and fairness.
Some cultures execute
murderers, while others do not.
What will be the laws of life en route to exoplanet?
1. population control / reproductive freedoms
2. system(s) of government and social mechanism?
The outlaw, Grettis of Iceland
How to banish ‘to the wilds’ on
a starship?
On Mars?
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Add the Dimension of Time
At least – “Three Ages to the Stars”
e.g. 5 centuries to Proxima Centauri Epsilon Eridani:
Age the First
Close to Earth, Far from Exoplanet
from Earth, will never see exoplanet
Age the Second
Midway
will never see Earth or Exoplanet
Age the Third
Close to Exoplanet, Far from Earth
from Midway, anticipating arrival at Exoplanet
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Say, 500 years
Genetically
similar, but some new mutations present
selection for new developmental schedule
hopefully sufficient diversity for exoplanet colonization
(will be new bottleneck event)
Culturally
new dialects, phrases and figures of speech
new vocabulary items, loss of others
new social organizations, religious traditions and priorities
artistically novel
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Differences on order of
differences between
Medieval and modern
England.
We can understand some
such change.
No need to speculate
entirely.
No need for little green
men, or whole genome
transformation.
They will be people…just
star – people.
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•
This will be about people in communities over long periods.
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We don’t have to just guess at what might happen.
We can build an anthropology of space migration to make useful recommendations
for success in the Extraterrestrial Adaptation.
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There is precedent for such risky, long-distance, long-term voyages in high danger.
We can learn from what anthropology and archaeology reveals about human adaptation
in the past.
Principles of Space Anthropology
Cameron M. Smith
Forthcoming in 2017 / 2018
CHAPTER 1: AN INTRODUCTION TO EXOANTHROPOLOGY
This chapter introduces two central concepts of this book: first, humans space
colonization as adaptive evolution, and second, why evolutionary studies can help
plan for success in human space colonization. I then continue bydefining some basic
concepts and terms.
1.1 Definitions and Objectives
1.2 Models of Space Colonization
1.2.1
1.2.2
1.2.3
Terrestrially-Tethered Colonies
Independent Colonies on Other Solar System Bodies
Independent Colonies Aboard 'Closed-System' Spacecraft
1.3 An Overview of the History of Anthropology
1.4 Building an Exoanthropology
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By revealing the details of how humanity adapts, anthropology will be of
use to humanity’s future beyond Earth.
Thanks for your time and attention.