tchalakov mars collonization patterns tomsk 05_2014

7/27/2019 Tchalakov Mars collonization patterns Tomsk 05_2014

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Ivan Tchalakov, REC PAST-Centre, NR Tomsk State University,

University of Plovdiv, Bulgaria)

Planet Mars and the Knowledgeabout Health:

Lessons from PastColonisations

International conference Social Sciences and Medicalinnovations , 15-17 May 2014, Tomsk

Ivan Tchalakov 20141


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Contents

1) STS approach to colonisation: creatingenvelops of mobility and durability (Law1986)

2) Portuguese and Polynesian colonisations as twopolar types and related medical technologies

3) Mars colonisation envelop of mobility anddurability and technologies that make it

possible

4) Medical technologies as part of the Marsenvelope



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I. The envelope of colonisation

John Law thesis:

it is not possible to understand this expansion unless thetechnological, the economic, the political, the social, andthe natural are all seen as being interrelatedThe

Portuguese effort involved the mobilisation andcombination of elements from each of these categories.Of course kingsand merchantsappear in the story. Butso too do sailors and astronomers, navigators andsoldiers of fortune, astrolabes and astronomical tables,

vessels and ports of call, and last but not least, thewinds and currents that lay between Lisbon andCalicut.(Law 1986)



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The envelope of colonisation (2)

Jared Diamond contribution:

Smallpox, measles, influenza, typhus, bubonic plague, and otherinfectious diseases endemic in Europe played a decisive role inEuropean conquests by decimating many peoples on othercontinents. Throughout the Americas, diseases introduced with

Europeans spread from tribe to tribe killing an estimated 95percent of the pre-Columbian Native American population Soonafter the British settlement of Sydney in 1788, the first of theepidemics that decimated Aboriginal Australians began. Similarepidemics marked the histories of Tonga, Hawaii, and other Pacific

islands[In turn] malaria, yellow fever, and other diseases of tropical Africa,India, Southeast Asia, and New Guinea furnished the most importantobstacle to European colonization of those tropical areas..



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What makes colonisation possible

Hence the envelopeof colonisation integrates different types oftechnologies- ship design, navigation technologies, guns (arms),trade/commercial technologies, food and water technologies(cooking, storage, conservation), medical technologies, includinggrass-roots bio-politics

STS definition of technology (M. Callon):Technologies are not just applyingthe laws of nature ingiven (practical) field,but are experimentationwith thelimits of human imagination.

Pressed by circumstances, obsessed with given problemor fascinated by a great challengeprovided you havecourage, resources and imagination you can changethe markets, the technologies and even the laws ofphysics.



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What makes colonisation possible

As such anexperimentthe technology presupposes :

- knowledge about the properties of natural entities andforces and skillsto manipulate and control them by using onesagainst the others;

- accumulation of these knowledge and skills in humancommunities via their embodiment in people, artefacts and

systems of signs (language, letters, graphs, maps, scripts, etc).- transmission of all this to next generations;

- making the youth interested to continueexperimenting with the limits of imagination, i.e. toexpand the scope of known entities and forces, and to develop

skills for their manipulation.All this requires certain level of freedom and competition, aswell as economic, legal, political and cultural conditions thatmake prosper not just the strongest, but the best



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=> Research focus on periods of intensiveexperimentation

Thetechnicalprogressis not inevitable and quasi-automatic, asMarxists think in some societies it can be blocked for long,often until they disappear.

=> particular interests to the (relatively limited) periods when newsocio-technical networks emerge, and against which subsequentcenturies are simply an extension and expansion without addingsomething fundamentally new:

- Nile Valley before pharaohs;

- early Mesopotamian states and Lebanon prior to Phoenicians;

- early Ancient Greece;- Veneto region between 9 and 11 century;

- XV century Portugal, XVI century Netherlands, XVIII centuryBritain, XIX century Germany, ??



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2) The Sociotechnical system of Polynesian colonisation, 800-1300 a.c.



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Sociotechnical system of Polynesian colonisation

;



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1. New long-distance naval technologycatamaran consisting oftwo large canoe tied by large wooden platform with big enoughedifice, hosting crew members with their families, and allowing upto two large canvas;

2. Closely related advanced navigation skills, allowing orientationin open ocean, and reading and memorizing the signs of stars,birds, wind, ocean currents, etc.

3. Reliable enough textile technology, transforming fibrous bark ofsome trees into raw material to manufacture ropes, sets, sails andclothes;

4. Technology for processing and polishing hard stone(obsidian)for axes, knifes, adzes for boats, etc.

5. Ceramic technology, inherited from their far China predecessors,and transformed significantly during the centuries that followed



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Polyneisan radical innovation in boats

From small boats to

Catamaran made of

big covered waterproof

boats



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Polyneisan colonisation: navigation maps of ocean winds and currents



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Textile technologies of Polinesian colonisation



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Sociotechnical system of Polinesian colonisation



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6. Mobilefarming and agriculturegrains et tubercles ofedible plants, as well as small domesticated animals (pigs,dogs, and chicken), able to survive on catamarans togetherwith crew members and their families

7. Fishing and shell-fishing skills8. Decentralized social system, allowing the survival and

reproduction of communities, and preservation of their socialintegrity

8. Specific culturelanguage, folklore, beliefs and rituals, whichsimilarly to Ancient Greece culture stimulated the adventure,risk taking, perseverance and endurance.



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9. Implicitand explicit health technologies- Coming from Southern China, the early Polynesian colonizers

brought with them microbes they were resistant to, butcontagious for the communities on the islands closer to the

continent. They lost this during centuries that followed, livingin much smaller communities and without big domesticatedanimals

- As a family and small group endeavor, Polynesian colonisationallowed transfer the accumulated in knowledge and skills

about health, usually possessed by elderly family members,medical men and sage women, thus allowing their transferfrom generation to generation. The same refers to theknowledge and skills related to nutrition.



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What made Polynesian

colonisation possible?

Polynesians short short.mp4

http://localhost/var/www/apps/conversion/tmp/scratch_3/Polynesians%20short%20short.mp4http://localhost/var/www/apps/conversion/tmp/scratch_3/Polynesians%20short%20short.mp4


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Limitations to Polynesian colonisation

1. Ship-wreck, lost in oceanthese constitute a real threats, ifreduced by the practice to travel in groups of catamarans, thelater reliability and crew navigation skills. (Dutch captain Schoutenwrote in 1616: These boats have excellent design, they are so fast in the seathat few Dutch ships could surpass them!)

2. Famine, dehydration and cold during the long trips, cold nightsand bad weather. Polynesians had not technologies to concureArctic and Antarctic.

3. Reaching remote islands with limited resources, unable tosustain large enough human community under the technologies

available (Pitcairn island, Chatham island)4. Ecological failures, where colonizers destroyed the islands

ecosystems (Easter Island - Rapa Nui).



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Sailor found severalweeks after the wreck


Forestless Easter Islands


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Sociotechnical system of Portuguese expansion in 15-16 century

M Magellans

Carrack

(Nau) 15th

century



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Sociotechnical system of Portuguese expansion(John Law, 1986)

Global trade with spices in the Middle Ages and the dreamfor direct access to India

The carrack as radical naval innovation in 15thcentury a complex system of shipbuilding, gun and navigation

technologies, plus financial backing by Portuguese monarchy John Law: carracks were resisting to assault, their new

sails required less people, they had new guns at lowerdeck that made them very stable, they were large enough

for goods and they needed fewer stops; they possessednew navigation instruments All this made carracksindependentfrom their environment.



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Carracks system of sails



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Carrack



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( )
http://www.penobscotmarinemuseum.org/pbho-1/collection/cross-staff-reproduction


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16
http://www.penobscotmarinemuseum.org/pbho-1/collection/method-using-astrolabehttp://www.penobscotmarinemuseum.org/pbho-1/collection/astrolabe-diagram


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Drawbacks of Portuguese expansions sociotechnical system

Food supply during the long trips

Merchant and military expeditions, aiming at returningback home.

Underdeveloped food conservation technologies

=> Heavy losses from Scurvy

- in 1499 Da Gama lost 116 men out of 170 (68%);

- in 1520 Magellan lost 208 out of 230 crew (90%)!!!

=> Tropical diseases as another problem



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The effects of scurvy



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Scurvy treated with lemons



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Tropical deseases



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Comparing Polynesian and Portuguese envelopes of colonisation

In Polynesian colonisation of Pacific (as well as those of

Phoenician and Ancient Greece, or Puritans and Quakers'colonisation of North America, or Cossacks colonisation ofSiberia and Far East) the main efforts are made by thecommunities (family, religious, merchant) who develop thenecessary resources (mostly) internally. The relationships withmetropolis are important, but the asymmetric, the movementtowards colonies dominate.

The Portuguese expansion in India, similarly to (early) Spanishcolonisation of Latin America or British colonisation of Caribbean

islands is a different, imperial type, based on commercialexploitation of certain goods (row materials, slaves, etc.) at globalmarkets. It presupposes expanding relationship betweenperiphery and metropolis, the interests of the later beingdominant.



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Comparing Polynesian and Portuguese envelopes of colonisation

The Polynesian type of colonisation create a commercial and culturalspace, rather than empires, where in addition to metropolis there arealso exchanges between colonies.

The imperial type of colonisation increases the asymmetry between

metropolis and periphery over the time, and it is not sustainable in longterm. Yet it maintains stable relationships between the two, unlikePolynesian type where it is quite possible some colonies to degrade theirtechnology base and even to collapse as such

The Polinesian type exploits the community resources (including in

health issues), it is a form of life,while in Portuguese type we havecrew that is rather an instrument for achieving someone's aims. Thismakes it much more vulnerable, but on the other hand there are moreresources involved.



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Modern science and imperial type of colonisation

Considered as specific type of capitalization (B.Latour), modern science is closely related with theimperialtype of colonisation.

European science actively participate in this process,

helping to solve some of its key problems:

- Precise navigation;

- Tropical diseases

- Biology, geology and mining

- New technologies related to colonisation (after 19thcentury)



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3. The coming colonisation of planet Mars

What type it will be?

Imperial (NASA, Russia, China) ?

De-centralized (private initiativesMars One, etc.; MarsSociety);

Combinations between the two (Antarcticmodel)?

The discovery of economically viable resources on mars orits use as bases supporting the colonisation of asteroidsmight push the imperial model. In the reverse case thedecentralized or intermediary patterns are also possible.



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The envelop of Mars colonisation five key technologies:

1. A spaceship reliable enough (and able host the settlersinitially;

2. New types of life-support systems

3. Autonomous manufacturing of tools and spare parts (3Dprinting?)

4. Extreme agriculture and farming

5. New medical technologies and new approach to health

=> With the exception of the third one (and partly the fourthone), still not a major breakthrough in the other five.



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Health issues in Mars colonisation expert based approach

1. Medical risks far exceed the commonly accepted (higher exposure toradiation, to specific chemical substances and physical effects). Ifimportant, crew safety and health related to the mission objectives.

2. Deep space specific environment causes adaptive changes in thephysiology of human body, some of which are considered pathological

(reduction of bone density, etc.)3. Stress and other related psychological problems threat; the thraumatic

events considered the same way.

4. Preliminary medical check and selection of the crew members to reduceto the possible minimum medical events during the long term missions,

but does not prevent them.5. Prophylactics and early diagnostics of key importance, allowing

reduction or early treatment of emerging health problems.

6. Telemedicineas strategic field of development.



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The probability of traumatic event and expert based approach

US submarine Polaris: there were 269 chirurgicalinterventions on board between 1963 and 1973, i.e. for7650000 people/days - 21 cases of appendicitis, 17 ofwhich successfully treated with antibiotics, 4 with fatal

outcome; Probability analysis: with crew of 7 members one chirurgical

event in 14 years (by 2035 Mars One is planning 20colonists at Mars)

=> Need of chirurgical facilities



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Expert based approach medical events at Mir space station



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Expert based approach medical events at Space Shuttle program



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Expert based approach: coping with uncertainties such asextra-terrestrial pathogens



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Expert based approach types of telemedicine

1. Tele-psychiatry

2. Tele-diagnostics

3. Tele-cardiology

4. Tele-pharmacy

5. Tele- chirrupy (the first teleoperation carried out in 2001 -Zeus telemanipulator, da Vinci Surgical System, etc.)



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NASA helped turn theInternational Space Station'sultrasound machine into an

all-purpose diagnosticimager with a direct line todoctors on Earth.

The technology could soonhelp diagnose sick people inisolated communities aroundthe world.


Medical Diagnosis at a Distance


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Expert based approach - biological tissue/organ 3D printing

NASA istesting 3Dprinter for

possible useat Mars

43 Ivan Tchalakov 2014


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What is missing in expert-based approach Live-worldhealthexpertise in families and other types of micro-communities

Linear progress implies that scientization improves life-wordknowledge, makes it more precise, eliminates superstition anderror. The possibility that life-word knowledge might be simplydifferent from scientific knowledge and perform differentfunction is thereby overlooked.. (G. Boeme 1986)

Is possible health knowledge and practices, accumulated infamily and knowledge communities (parents and patientsorganizations, activist groups, etc.), to be completely replacedby scientific expertise?

- V. Rabeharisoa & M. Callon (2002) (The involvement of patients'associations in research, AFM)

- B. Pasveer & M. Akrich (2001) (Home birth, Obstetrical Trajectories)

- M.Callon, Y. Barthe, P. Lascoumb (2009) (Hybrid Forums)



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Space scientists family dreaming for Mars



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Thank you for your attention

[email protected]

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tchalakov mars collonization patterns tomsk 05_2014

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