Astronaut 10 Commandments — ASCAN

Photo by Joel Filipe on Unsplash

The Astronaut 10 commandments is a deceptively simple classic. I often use it as a way to describe the divine masculine to people who don’t understand it. Men who have balanced power express themselves with calm self-restraint.

Astronauts, like Indigenous peoples, must find a way to balance internal emotions to live for long periods in small groups, accept death with equanimity, and perform well under intense pressure.

Once you know what to look for, it is easy to see men working toward this ideal in their lives. Women often mistake this self-restraint for passivity but there is a clear distinction and other men can see it which is why it is a selection criterion in this male-dominated environment.

The Ten Commandments for ASCAN (Astronaut Candidates)

1. Keep smiling, but not grinning

2. Keep your humor harmless, pure and perfect. People don't understand irony.

3. Keep your weaknesses to yourself. If you don't point them out to others, they will never see them.

4. Never complain; make survival look easy.

5. You are expected to say something nice after each flight, class, or simulation.

6. If you can't say something nice, lie -- nicely.

7. In particular, practice saying, "Thanks for pointing that out, sir. I'll really work on that."

8. Be aggressively humble and dynamically inconspicuous. Save your brilliance for your friends and family.

9. Remember -- whatever's encouraged is mandatory. Whatever's discouraged is prohibited.

10. Nothing is sometimes a good thing to do and always a clever thing to say.

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