/sci/ - Science & Math

"Later interpretation of their behaviors led the psychologists involved to conclude that they felt that they lived in what was essentially a different world, that the stresses and dangers they faced on a day to day basis were so alien to ordinary surface experience that they felt topside support could not understand their situation and was not in a position to issue them orders or advice. Topside support, in their view, lacked the direct experience with how day to day life underwater worked and therefore couldn't come to informed conclusions as to what changes if any were needed.

Reportedly the pace of life slowed, they became intimately well adapted to their environment and began to think of themselves as legitimate inhabitants of the sea. It felt as if they belonged there, a closely knit social bond formed and everyone from the surface whether issuing orders or bringing supplies became an unwelcome outsider in their eyes. This could be compared, speculatively, to the tendency for colonies to rebel against their founding nations and seek sovreignty. The increased complexity and stress of life underwater or on Mars with a pseudo-familial group in confined quarters may well accelerate this process, and magnify the effect."