Tuesday 21 July 2015

TuesT&T - 172 Hours on the Moon and My Irrational Fear of Outer Space


Tuesday Thoughts and Talks is hosted by Sherry at Bloggity Blog.   The aim is to get people to think beyond the story and discuss a topic related to it.  Today I'm basing my post off the things I got thinking about whilst reading 172 Hours on the Moon by Johan Harstad - mostly how stupidly scared I am of space.


I'm not entirely sure where this fear cam from, or quite when it started either.  I loved learning about the planets when I was a kid (back in the old days when Pluto was still considered a planet) and the idea of space travel fascinated me.  Okay, so I wasn't obsessed with it like a lot of kids were, but I wasn't afraid of it either.

I do, however, know why I'm scared.  It's due to a lot of reasons, the first being that it (supposedly) goes on forever.  How can that be possible?  How can something continue, on and on and on and on and never end?  If you were falling in space, you would never reach the bottom.  You'll just keep floating until you die.  I don't like that.

On a related note, even when I'm not thinking about it, I am always going to be floating on this tiny sphere in the middle of absolute darkness and a vast amount of nothingness.  Doesn't that sound unsafe to you?  And on to more unsafe business... One day, the sun is going to explode.  What makes it worse is that it's a when rather than if scenario.  Sure, I'm not going to be alive when this happens - hell, humans could be extinct by the time it happens - but it's still not nice to think about.  When the sun explodes, things are going to suck.  What will be left?  Infinite nothingness... *shudder*

On top of this, 172 Hours on the Moon brings to mind a lot more questions - like what else could be out there?  There could be anything!  Monsters, magic, parallel worlds... Okay so none of this has much of a scientific basis, but my imagination doesn't seem to care.  As you can see, even though I didn't love this book, it sure succeeded in creeping me out!

Just thinking about space and the future of the world scares me to no end.  We were learning about how the solar system came into existence in one of my classes last week, and I couldn't stand it.  I had to start thinking about something else.

Does any of this really have any relevance to me, a person content to keep my feet on the Earth for the rest of my life?  Uh, not really.  But it still freaks me out.

Have you got any irrational fears that you would like to share?

4 comments:

  1. I have never thought of that.. Oh God now I'm scared as well. I actually was never scared of space & probably will never be. With the excessive amount of alien books I'm reading, I should be, but I'm not. I always find space to be very fascinating and those who don't believe in aliens are beyond me. How can such space (literally) go to waste? Without any inhabitants.. right?! It doesn't seem possible to me, of course they're there for a reason.

    Jumana @ Books by Jay

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    Replies
    1. Haha sorry about that :P
      Yeah, I feel like you have to at least believe in the possibility of aliens.

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  2. The idea behind 'infinite' is scary enough-let alone space! Have you ever watched the movie Gravity with Sandra Bullock? I never thought I had a problem with space before that movie! Instead of giving me a sense of vastness and neverendingness in space, I felt really claustrophobic! It is a really good but scary movie for those of us scared of space ;) Great posting for Tuesday Thoughts & Talks! Happy readings!

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    Replies
    1. I agree with you!
      I have actually seen Gravity - I think it's part of what woke me up to my fear, along with this book. I can understand why it felt claustrophobic to you, with the characters stuck in such a tiny ship.
      Thanks Sherry, you too!

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