Engineer and author Dr. Robert Zubrin founded the Mars Society, an international organization dedicated to furthering the exploration and settlement of Mars by both public and private means. In the first half, he discussed his new book, which delves into the new world humans could create once they settle on Mars. If SpaceX's Mars missions are successful, we could have people on Mars within 8-10 years, he enthused, adding that at a distance of around 35 million miles, it's a six-month journey to get there. Zubrin believes that Mars will host a number of different colonies, which will have varying ideas about governance, social systems, and customs. These small city-states or settlements will house 10,000 to 100,000 people, he predicted, and be built with materials created on Mars.
Zubrin envisions these Martian city-states competing for new immigrants around 50 to 100 years from now. There is potential for economic growth through colonization, including developing Martian resources into valuable products and creating infrastructure to increase land value, he continued. Zubrin added that inventions or patents could be another lucrative export for the Red Planet, as the technologically inclined colonists will be forced to innovate in many new areas to ensure their survival. As far as the goal of terraforming Mars so people could live outside of domes or breathe the air, he suggested that technologies 100 years in the future may have far better and faster solutions than the current idea of producing greenhouse gases and growing plants.
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Psychotherapist (M.Ed.) and counselor Ross Rosenberg is an expert in codependency, narcissism, and trauma. In the latter half, he talked about how tales of monsters and vampires are metaphors for pathological narcissists and sociopaths -- people who walk among us, creating a normal and successful facade on the outside, but on the inside are actually heartless oppressors out to snare victims into their elaborate web of mental abuse and control. He suggested that codependent individuals (who often pair up with a narcissist) can be viewed as having a self-love deficiency disorder. Narcissists think they're not doing anything wrong, that they're entitled, and that everyone should give them what they want, while sociopaths are aware of their lack of caring and try to disguise it, he detailed.
Those with narcissistic personality disorder can be selfish, vain, grandiose, possessive, and manipulative, he continued. Less than 1% of the population are sociopaths, while narcissism can be found in 5-8% of people. When these two disorders combine in the "sociopathic narcissist," you encounter someone who lacks empathy, seeks out the vulnerabilities in their victim, and then draws the emotional and financial lifeforce from them like a parasite, he explained. While there are some treatments for narcissism, he said there is no cure for a sociopath. "They don't have a core, so they don't have anything to reach," and they don't experience any inner turmoil when they do something wrong, Rosenberg noted.