Common Fears In An Astronauts Guide to Life on Earth Book
One thing that squares with my beliefs is when Hadfield talks about his fear of plane rides, but explains that he overcame it by being “able to override that sensation with reason: I was actually just fine, I wasn’t going to fall out the plane” (Hadfield, Chris. An Astronauts Guide to Life on Earth. Pg. 53). I thought this was important to me because it is a great lesson in overcoming your fears by simply reassuring yourself that you will be okay. I used to have a fear of heights and this was exactly how I overcame that fear. The first point that I remember from the reading is when Hadfield explains that “A fire is one of the most dangerous things that can happen in a spaceship because there’s nowhere to go: also flames behave less predictably…” (Hadfield, Chris. An Astronauts Guide to Life on Earth. Pg. 55). I thought this information was interesting because it was knowledge that I was not aware of. I think under a controlled environment, it would be interesting to witness a fire in space to see exactly how the properties are different.
The second thing that I remember from the text as well as thought was humorous was when Hadfield says “My kids used to make fun of me for having more homework than they did and for taking it a lot more seriously too” (Hadfield, Chris. An Astronauts Guide to Life on Earth. Pg. 65). I feel that there needs to be an expectation that Hadfield would have to take his “homework” a lot more seriously than that of his children’s actual homework. He is trying to be an astronaut after all. Finally the third thing I remember from the text is Hadfield’s idea that “a lot of people talk about expecting the best but preparing for the worst, but I think that’s a seductively misleading concept” (Hadfield, Chris. An Astronauts Guide to Life on Earth. Pg. 69). I don’t really agree with Hadfield because it’s not really misleading; Hadfield goes on to make his own assertions of what the concept should mean, but that completely misses the point of the concept altogether.
It is a concept that is meant to bend to the opinion and situation of that it relates to. It is general and meant to be interpreted in millions of different views. By simply expressing that it should mean “this” Hadfield unknowingly bends the concept to fit his opinions and situation which is exactly how the concept is supposed to be used. Therefore making his argument over the matter utterly redundant. My question that end with is really just the curiosity of why Hadfield has such a problem with the concept of hoping for the best, but preparing for the worst. He makes it seem as if this concept is only meant to apply to him and him only.
He even goes far enough to include information regarding the matter of the concept being false, only to prove that it doesn’t relate to him enough so it should therefore be wrong.
