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A brief history of people losing their minds in Antarctica

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Re: A brief history of people losing their minds in Antarctica

#71

Post by shard »

watwut wrote: post #52
haar wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Two schools of thought? - Those that really try hard to make sure the computer cannot crash. - Those that see the computer crashing as an inevitability, and want to ensure the appropriate behaviours are in place when it does happen.

When it comes to high risk activities, the preference should be for: those that really try hard to make sure the computer cannot crash and also have plans in place in case it happens. The two are not mutually exclusive at all.

I think the distinction is more like: those with combat drill practice and those with actual combat experience.

Re: A brief history of people losing their minds in Antarctica

#72

Post by rm_-rf_slash »

naoru wrote: post #50
permo-w wrote: post #34

First >A current theory among social scientists suggests that pibloktoq [a temporary madness found in Inuhuit peoples] was not a congenital malady peculiar to the Inuhuit but rather a severe stress reaction arising from early contact with Western outsiders. Could someone explain this theory to me? secondly, I sincerely doubt that the early expeditions had anything remotely resembling adequate nutrition, besides enoug…

> a very restricted diet combined with not seeing the sun for 6 months That's not an expedition. That's Russia. Now you know why majority of Russians are terminally funny in the head.

I was talking to a colleague who has spent the last few years living in southern Sweden (as in, hardly the most arctic conditions in the country), who described the winter months as a perpetual “jet lag” kind of feeling.

I brought that up with my partner who is from Florida (we live in NY) and she said the feeling is mutual, even though the time difference is less extreme.

There’s just something about long periods of cold and darkness that messes with peoples heads, especially if they didn’t grow up with it.

Re: A brief history of people losing their minds in Antarctica

#73

Post by Applejinx »

dennisnedry wrote: post #65
fleetingmoments wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Freely available hallucinogens at the pole would make things 1000x worse.

Magic mushrooms are now being used to treat anxiety. Just something to consider when dealing with a situation that creates massive amounts of anxiety (being stuck in ice with no way out).

I am really not sure I'd want to be stuck in ice, ON ACID, with no way out :)

…though I think your point is, that while you're stuck in ice with no way out, all the mental stability structures you build to connect yourself to reality are bad and harmful. And being on drugs and disrupting your reality, breaking down your preconceptions etc. would be more along the lines of continually breaking down the BAD mental structures you're inevitably building, due to correct appraisal of your situation.

Still doesn't sound awesome though :)

Re: A brief history of people losing their minds in Antarctica

#74

Post by dasudasu »

hellbannedguy wrote: post #39

I have thought for awhile that the best space voyagers, or guys whom are going to be isolated, are individuals who already had minor breakdowns when they were younger. That includes so many of us? Why? Because they know the crazy thoughts will pass. I'm not talking about individuals with serious mental illness like Schizophrenia, or have a genetic lineage of mental illness. I'm talking people that have survived mild…

This is mostly wishful thinking. Advantages tend to accumulate in life. Those who had the easiest time growing up are often the most stable ones emotionally. Life doesn’t care about fairness, just like being and tall and attractive is correlated with intelligence, even though we might not prefer it this way.

I’m sure you’ve also seen they type: brillant PhD, liked by everyone, natural leader, accomplished on multiple levels, perfect family and relations. These are the people that have been selected to be astronauts. How often have you seen one have a breakdown during a mission?

Re: A brief history of people losing their minds in Antarctica

#75

Post by JamesSwift »

sampo wrote: post #47

In 1893, Fridtjof Nansen took a ship with a 12 men crew to North of East Siberia, purposefully sailed the ship to get stuck in sea ice, and hoped that the ice movement with ocean currents would take them to the North Pole. The ship spent 3 years stuck in ice, but didn't quite flow over the North Pole. These people didn't go mad. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nansen%27s_Fram_expedition

That wiki article was a super interesting read. I might find a book that goes more in depth.

Re: A brief history of people losing their minds in Antarctica

#76

Post by imbnwa »

iamarkadyt wrote: post #11

Future of space explorations for sure. Similar situation portrayed in Ad Astra (2019) where the main hero's father have gotten stranded on a space station on the edge of the solar system for many years and went insane. Humans are delicate machines. Gotta know how to keep the monkey happy.

Orangutans are about as good as it gets at enduring solitude for apes, possibly all primates, and even then females don't live far from their mother and sisters, and children require 9 years of attention and frequent physical contact.

Re: A brief history of people losing their minds in Antarctica

#77

Post by AlwaysRock »

kayodelycaon wrote: post #67
danuker wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Why? Because they know the crazy thoughts will pass. I am not a psychologist nor anything similar, but wouldn't people who have gone through the same conditions without having the crazy thoughts in the first place be better suited for the job?

Not sure for this particular circumstance but I am bipolar. As long as my medication is stable, I’m far more resilient to the day to day struggles in life than the average person seems to be. I’ve been forced to build coping mechanisms to survive. Every day is a struggle of some kind, so I’m ready when shit happens, because shit always happens to me.

I don't really see how this can be true. With my medication I'm more steady emotionally than the average person but somewhat often I think about that it would be like to be a person who doesnt need a mix of externally drugs to feel this way.

I, like you, know how to cope but is that really better than not needing to know how to cope at all? I wish I shared your optimism.

Re: A brief history of people losing their minds in Antarctica

#78

Post by BuildTheRobots »

iamarkadyt wrote: post #11

Future of space explorations for sure. Similar situation portrayed in Ad Astra (2019) where the main hero's father have gotten stranded on a space station on the edge of the solar system for many years and went insane. Humans are delicate machines. Gotta know how to keep the monkey happy.

Can't help but think of the short story of a group of explorers encountering what turns out to be an endless space station: http://geosci.uchicago.edu/~kite/doc/roauss.htm

Re: A brief history of people losing their minds in Antarctica

#80

Post by strictnein »

fileeditview wrote: post #21

I see that H.P. Lovecraft is mentioned but not his work on the topic: "At the Mountains of Madness". I recently discovered a great adaptation of his book by the Japanese Artist Gou Tanabe. If you are into B&W ink drawings you should really check out Tanabe's books.

Haven't read all of Lovecraft, but my favorite story of his is "At the Mountains of Madness". I really enjoyed this audiobook of it as well:

https://www.audible.com/pd/At-the-Mountains-of-Madness-Black...

I hope someday that Guillermo del Toro is able to make a movie adaptation.

https://movieweb.com/at-the-mountains-of-madness-movie-guill...

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