post here https://sofiechan.com/t/eugenics/ Elon has been faulted for seeking Mars for all the self interested reasons. Delusion of grandeur, wanting to be a king, etc . But can we add something more to that motivations? In this inquiry you'll see why Elon wants to make a planet of and for high IQ people. Note: its distict form [geniocracy](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geniocracy). First we'll observe other historical cases of ethnogenesis. Then we'll see how distance and astronaut selection process will inevitably result in another of those events. Lastly we'll conclude with a portrait of Elon as successor of Werher von Braun in not only " rockets" department. ## Ethnogeneses What is *ethnogenesis*? It's a creation of a new ethnic group. The defintion is a bit nebulous, however in the DEI phrase 'racial and ethnic background' this implies a smaller size than 'race'. A very ancient example is the [Somalians](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_people), that were the Macrobians of Herodotus accounts and also experienced nation-forming under Kingdom of Punt but now are the dominant - 85% population in Somalia, with over 5 million in neighbouring countries. Here we see the initial traces of how an ethnicity is created: physical isolation, unique culture, descent networks. Going forward in time, somewhere between 4000 BCE and 600 BCE Slavic ethnogenesis happened. Isolated forest forts in the Pripyat reiver was the Urheimat, interacted with the post-Scythian Iranic tribes like Sarmatians. They were limited in the North by the Baltic and Uralic peoples, and on the West there was the Gothic migrations trajectory, finished by 400s CE then that land became empty and Slavic expansion to the West and South began. As you see, we can trace a line here. It starts with the Scythians mentioned by Herodotus in Histories tells of a curse Scythians got after raiding a templte of Aphrodite Urania and got '“malattia femminile” / “θήλεα νοῦσος”', from which a tradition among the Scythians appeared of [Enaree](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enaree#cite_note-1) / Ἐνάρεες' - transgender shamans. Can this lineage be traced into the 21st century and link into the ['Polish femboys'](https://www.reddit.com/r/OutOfTheLoop/comments/mgfijq/whats_the_deal_with_femboys_and_poland/) meme? The nonheteronormative theme continues as we look into another group, this time a caste, [Mestizos de Sangley](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sangley). A 'traditional homosexual system' is mentioned as a distinctive type of social relations as seen by other groups in spacetime vicinity. They originated in 1600s when Spanish-ruled Phillipines invited Chinese male craftsmen and merchants to fill in some gaps in the colonial economy. When those men had children with native women, the offspring was called "Mestizos de Sangley". Here we have a clear origin of the group in the actions of a state but the result is not co-exstensive with the state. Imperial Spanish state examined the alive bodies of its subjects in the Foucaldian sense - a fascinating [debate](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Casta#%22Colonial_Caste_System%22_debate) is on this topic, but for another day. American propaganda for the last 130 years [served to tarnish the history of Spanish time](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Legend#America) in the Phillipines. America itself has had a kind of selection on its own. Americans initially were not a random selection of NorthWest Europeans. Those who chose to do the voyage AND persisted in the new environment were *built different*. There was a strong selection for religiosity, social nonconformism and risk taking. This was since Mayflower. The American nation became a novel cluster of temperaments and customs, non uniform of course. Post 1848 German socialist-leaning newcomers to Minnesota, Italian migrations took many decades to ingrain themselves. Famously Lovecraft was suspicious of the latter especially, faulting non-Protestant work ethic, among other things. The best case scenario of integration sounds nearly romantic - a respectful dance appreciating mutual boundaries, changing and letting oneself be changed. Another interesting ethnicity creation also took place in the Americas - the Hispanic / Latino, though I'll focus on the Mexican example. A new identity has been postulated, and only in the short span of the last 500 years. See ['La Raza'](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_Raza ) for a sociological descriptive account and for a more esoteric speculative example see on [La raza cosmica](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_raza_c%C3%B3smica). From those examples we can see the role of the state, crossing the water, as a water-based transformative ritual is a common theme in those stories. A founder effect — at least for culture if not genetics — and selection for risk also are present. Arguably in a novel social environment a fast social sense and language acquisition skills would be advantageous, with such individuals rising faster. Possibly also disease resistance — robust immune system was of crucial importance when crossing climates before modern medicine. Let's see how those factors re-occur in the Mars scenario. ## Space based selection Who went to space so far? People with PhDs are overrepresented, and good physical ability and endurance - fighter jet training has been common especially in the first astronauts. See the [whole list of qualifications](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NASA_Astronaut_Corps#Qualifications). Unlike the earthly occurences, specific physical limits happened so far, though they can be lifted for Mars mission. Astronauts must be from 157 ( 5 feet 2 inches) to 190.5 - 6 feet 3 inches. We can see that the phenotypic landscape of Mars 100 years after successful colonization will be a composition of four factors: astronaut selection to date, Mars - specific considerations, unplanned survival criteria in the first phase of flight and early settlement, finally reproductive success in the established phase. The first we've discussed before. For the second one, surviving the trip - the social factor is often proclaimed as a major barrier, and resourcefullness and peace of mind would be selected for during the mission planning. A whole Stoic / Zen training might be put into people, in addition to scanning for schizophrenia / neuroticism family, genetic and physiological markers. People of post-reproductive yet active age might be chosen for radiation concerns. I do not expect planned childbirth to happen in the first 10 years since the first human landing. Maybe there are single gene mutations that would help survive 6 months of zero / micro gravity travel. The whole [paragraph](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychological_and_sociological_effects_of_spaceflight#Psychosocial_and_psychiatric_issues_during_an_expedition_to_Mars) on this screening is solid. I was surprised to learn that [blueberries and strawberries can fully protect from space-rays based inflammation](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Central_nervous_system_effects_from_radiation_exposure_during_spaceflight#Potential_for_biological_countermeasures) The unplanned survival criteria is the 'known unknown' that the Earth trials try to rule out. Going postal, getting depressed, unexpected health issues. Still, specfic humans spent up to two years in space (nonsequential though), and unlike the Antarctic incident of murder we do not have crime in space yet. [Mental health](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychological_and_sociological_effects_of_spaceflight#On-orbit_and_post-spaceflight_psychiatric_issues) might be an issue. Finally we have the reproductive success in situ. That would be advantaged by mood resilience, maybe some reproductive parameters variance (sperm count, etc). Perhaps the children would be from frozen sperm carried in radiation shielded containers to prevent damage in transit, and embryo selection would enhance the effects. It's likely the colonists would be technophiles, and therefore opt for embryo selection. This part can be discussed at much length, especially intriguing is [cancer risk math](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Effects_of_ionizing_radiation_in_spaceflight#Models_of_cancer_risks_and_uncertainties), that's for further reading if you're interested, let's see the choices Elon has now on this question. ## Elon's choices A genetic and cultural [founder effect](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Founder_effect) is inevitable in colonizing Mars. Elon has a spectrum of options available to him, where differing optics appeal to different political leanings. First, he can go full DEI. Or Pick Noah style 2 persons per major US ethnicity and send them over. Or he sends specifically an apolitical selection, leaving the selection criteria to existing NASA state of the art (SOTA). Maybe he sends only people from his home country of South Africa? Or maybe only people of his race? My bet would be he goes with SOTA plus personal interview, a mix of professionals and volunteers, factoring in health data gathered from Bryan Johnson's trials, and that the selection would be 2005-style Democrat diverse. Still there is the later choice. The colony is there, new people arrive, one woman is first to give birth there, as a ceremony of sorts. She would still take the child back on the next flight to Earth to prevent risks in early development. Does Elon address the founding effect? It might not be visible in 'Martian GDP' and it's long until we see and divergence from Earth averages for talented schools. Would Elon comment on the elite character of the first truly Martian children and educational achievements? Or rather it would be noticeable only way later, 80 years after the landing, once he's likely no longer with us? Or would he just comment on the 'lack of retards' on Mars?