I didn't think I could relate to an astronaut stranded on a foreign planet in another galaxy. However, it ends up we may have more in common than I thought. In this episode, we explore the intergalactic adventures of Dr. Mann.
Art by Pete Whitehead
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Story performed by: Aaron Calafato
Audio Production: Ken Wendt
Original Art: Pete Whitehead
Additional Vocals: Cori Birce
Story Consultant: Anthony Vorndran
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This story you're about to listen to contains some slight spoilers for the movie Interstellar. First, if you haven't seen the movie Interstellar, you got to go see it. It's one of my all-time favorite movies. But in this story you're about to hear, I reference and bring up one of the story arcs that happen in this long movie. So it doesn't really give away the whole film at all, but it does talk about a portion of it and dives into a narrative that if you really want to see the movie and not know anything about it, you should watch the movie first. If you've seen the movie, you're great. And if you don't care, I can't wait for you to hear this story. Enjoy.
You're listening to 7 Minute Stories with Aaron Calafato. Visit our website: 7minutestories.com. That's 7minutestories.com to see the awesome new merch available this season. Choose from stickers, koozies, T-shirts, tote bags, and more. I have to say, the tote bag is my favorite.
This episode, Dr. Mann.
In the next seven or so minutes, I want to examine this scenario of what it would be like to be an astronaut out on a distant planet in some galaxy with no life, no family, no one around you, and the proposition that you're going to have to live your entire life on that planet from the moment you get there until the day you die by yourself in total isolation. Now, for the sake of the story, I want to really put myself as much as I can in that situation, and I hope you do the same thing here.
Imagine you're an astronaut. Imagine your name is Dr. Mann, just for the sake of giving a name here. Dr. Mann, could be woman and doesn't matter. Your name is Dr. Mann. You're an astronaut. And in fact, you're an astronaut during the time on Earth where Earth is literally crumbling. It's falling apart. It's the freaking apocalypse. And you are one of 12 astronauts that has to go through a wormhole that has appeared near Saturn. And you got to take this wormhole and you have to go into a different galaxy and there's 12 viable planets that the Earth could potentially repopulate and humanity could go on.
But here's the catch. You're Dr. Mann. You're one of 12 astronauts. You're extremely brave. You're doing this for all of man and womankind, and you're going out there. But here's the reality. Really, one of those 12 planets is going to be actually the place where all of men and women can go, and the other 11, most likely, they're going to leave those astronauts on those planets to die. That's the risk we're taking here.
First, just imagine looking at that scenario. I don't think I'm the guy raising my hand to do that. I can't even picture doing it. But just, let's say for the sake, "Okay. This is for all of humanity. You raise your hand. You're an astronaut. You're going." So Dr. Mann goes through this wormhole, and we are Dr. Mann in this situation, you and me together, we're going through this wormhole, we go out to this planet, out in a distant galaxy, we start our descent to the planet in the spacecraft lands.
And here's the reality: you're looking outside the window. You're realizing, probably just from the eyeball test, you're not the planet. I mean, it is an Arctic storm, the lakes you've never seen, cold temperatures, and from all the readings you're getting, the entire planet is this way. Not a lot of plants, not a lot of things for potential life. It's probably just too damn cold for life to exist and to habitate this planet. And even if you could, it would take too many people, too many resources to try to make this happen. It's not going to happen.
What is Dr. Mann feeling? And what would that feel like? That first moment of "Oh, God." You're there and you freaking know it, "I'm not the planet. No." You're still setting up shop. You're setting up the space station. You got a robot with you who can do some basic communication and take tests. You got a place to sleep. You got the basic necessities. But you got a feeling, and that feeling is telling you, "This isn't the planet." You start doing further readings. It keeps coming back and the evidence shows you, you've got to tell the people on Earth, "Don't come here. Leave me here to die." Imagine looking down that barrel.
It's easy to say in these movies when you watch these, or anybody in a situation like this. You'd be like, "Just don't do it. Don't call anybody. Just let them know it's not the planet." Theoretically, yes, but here's the reality. There's a red button on the inside of your little space campground that if you press and you tell them it is the planet, people are going to come. It's easy to say you wouldn't until you face the reality that if you don't press that red button and if you don't tell them the truth, that the planet's not habitable, you're going to die there alone, living out every single day talking to a robot.
Yes, you did it for all humanity, but, my God, I can't think of anything worse. I know what Dr. Mann was feeling in this moment. There is another option, though. What if you shut down the robot and you start fudging the numbers about the planet to make it look like it is the habitable planet so people come and potentially rescue you, or at least you have a chance of surviving. Because when faced with this idea of surviving, or trying to end your own life or whatever on this planet, you're driven to survive, even if the circumstances are bad. So if there's a choice to survive, if there's a choice, a chance that a human being can come to this planet, rescue you, that red button is looking real good.
But maybe you're feeling guilty. Maybe you think and you look over at the cryosleep chamber and you think, "I'll just go to sleep for 10 years. I won't change. It'll preserve me. And I'll wake up and I'll see where we're at then. Let's see if the scenario is different." But here's the thing: What if you miss your window? What if, in the time that you're sleeping, everyone from Earth has already found the new planet and the planet's even farther away from you, and you're left there and you're back in the same scenario?
You know what you got to do. You got to decommission the robot first and foremost, even though that's your only friend because that is the evidence that this planet isn't habitable. So you got to decommission the robot. And the act of doing that would be like Tom Hanks decommissioning Wilson. You can't even fathom it, but you have to do it. Then you start fudging the numbers, and then you send the message to Earth that this is the planet. You got to do it. Then you go into the cryosleep chamber, and just for safe measure, you go in there, you set the timer, and you don't set awake alarm. You're just going to cryosleep with the hope that someone's going to show up and find you, and that's your way out of this situation.
Look, I understand and can relate to Dr. Mann's choice. I think most of you can, too. Really, more so than I did when I first saw this movie, now, after three years of COVID, we're not quite there, but we've tasted isolation in a way that we've never had before. And so many people in serious situations of isolation facing things they shouldn't have to face alone. People have tasted that. They know what that is. And I think the thing we can glean from that is really what is intrinsic about us as human beings. Is that more so than just survival? We need to be connected to each other. It's just who we are. We need other people.
While facing this, even now, as we're pushing through this in this uncertain future, I remember one of the lines from that Dylan Thomas poem. I use it as inspiration. "Do not go gentle into that good night. Rage, rage against the dying of the light."
7 Minute Stories is created and performed by Aaron Calafato. Audio production by Ken Wendt. You can connect with Ken or inquire about his audio production services at media216.com. Original artwork by Pete Whitehead. Find out more about Pete's work at petewhitehead.com. Our creative consultant is Anthony Vorndran. And Lenin Janovac is our production assistant. Special thanks to our partners at Evergreen Podcast. And lastly, I'm Cori Birce. Make sure to tune in next week for another story.
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