Daydreaming prompt: Response

A month ago, I proposed a simple daydreaming prompt. It boils down to this: You can save yourself and nine fellow humans and set up a colony on Mars. The questions are:
1. Who will you bring with you?
2. What will you bring with you?
3. What institutions will you institute in the new colony?
Here are my answers, for the time being:

1. Who will you bring? (This is basically trying to beat natural selection against humanity by thinking a thousand steps ahead.)

First, I will bring my girlfriend (duh). I will fill in the remaining 8 slots based on these criteria:

4 males, 4 females. This 1:1 ratio will accomplish many things:

• Maximize the number of genes inherited by future generations. Heterozygosity (i.e. mutt-character) tends to correlate positively with the health and resilience of organisms, ideal for these do-or-die settlements.
• Minimize the risk of failure. For instance, if I decided to fill the ship with women, and I turned out to be sterile, we'd be in quite the bind.
• More even sex ratios in future generations. Sex ratios tend to be 1:1, but some individuals may have more of a tendency to produce one sex than another. An even number of males and females in the parent generation would be most likely to produce even ratios in future generations.

Maximum genetic heterozygosity (for aforementioned reasons). This could be measured directly through genetic analysis or be looking at phenotypic features such as:

• Body type (Height, BMI, etc.)
  
• Ethnic history
• Hair/eye color
• etc.

Minimum risk of illness. I would choose against individuals with histories of past illness or with family histories of past heritable illness. I would go for people with good eyesight and hearing, too.

Same language (English or Spanish, given what I speak). Hopefully, this would maximize cultural cohesion and cooperation.

Same religion. Also to increase cooperation, especially among men. Religiosity tends to act as a stabilizing force in small communities. (If this weren't the case, I doubt religion ever would have caught on.)

Problem-solving skills/creativity, probably measured by IQ and/or artistic skill. This will be important given the number of problems will face on Mars. (Oh boy, my palms are sweating just thinking about it!)

2. What will you bring?
Of course, I will bring copious amounts of water. I will also bring gas-tight buckets and giant straws for the collection and condensation of polar water.
Food is a must, at least for a while. Potentially, seeds could become a renewable resource in Mars's more-or-less fertile soil. (At least asparagus?) I could maybe bring some earthworms to enrich the soil with nitrogen.
Maybe I'd toss in a Playstation 2 and Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, too.

3. What institutions would lead to the prosperity of the colony?
I would start with non-coercive anarchy. However, there would be two enforced requirements:

1. Respect the rights of others, in accordance with a basic Bill of Rights.
2. Pray.

A formal intervention of some sorts would need to be enacted to address individuals not complying with these requirements.

The first is important, simply because we do not want to kill each other or get in petty fights. I don't think my comrades or I would disrespect each other, though, at least not at first, because our survival would hinge on our cooperation.

The second is important to prevent existential crises. If one really got down to thinking about it, one might be tempted to abandon this whole humanity thing for good. I am, however, a believer in human life's intrinsic good. I believe that suicide is wrong in most circumstances, probably including the circumstances in which a Martian colonist might find herself. By pointing to a higher power, directionlessness, powerlessness, and overall disillusion might be prevented. (For a case study in how Christmas saved a fictitious Martian colony, watch this.)

Other than that, anarchy would probably fit the bill for the first few decades. The Bill of Rights will also suffice for that time and onward into the future (hopefully).


What's your answer? What did I forget? What shouldn't I have included?