Human behavior can be primitive. Therefore, we need to find ways to counter the increasing anxiety around depleting resources and the increasing aggression in society. Both John B. Calhoun and Dr. Murray Bowen considered how to encourage cooperation while managing and defining a self to important others. Understanding how to manage self in a social system will be incredibly valuable in any venture―be it to Mars or anywhere.

In this month's blog, Navigating Systems faculty member Andrea Schara considers the importance of words and images in provoking us to imagine a different future―possibly one that Elon Musk sees on Mars.