I loved those books to death, but the parent is right. Mars is a rustier version of the moon with slightly better scenery.

Imagine a life where you as a native Martian never get to go outside, never get to feel fresh air, never get to meet a stranger, never get to storm off, never get the chance to live truly alone, never get to punch a wall, and never get a chance to see another world. No streams, no swimming, no oceans, no forests, nothing.

The footprints you make will still be there a hundred million years later. Mars is a one-way trip to a terribly cold and lonely place.

Sign me up. It's Mars.

I think the disconnect here is that there are in fact people who have considered such things and still want to go. It's the pioneer spirit. Hardship is part of the appeal.

Absolutely. I really admire the human spirit and how it's gotten us so far, so fast. People will absolutely be willing to sacrifice their lives for Mars, and some people will go to Mars not expecting to die, but will anyway.

However, I think these people should know that they might actually be dying in vain, because only a smattering of people will actually end up living on Mars, IMHO. Mars has a reputation as being a real planet but really it's a barren rock that's not practically habitable. Not excited about living on the Moon? Than likely you won't be excited about living on Mars.

There is a good argument to be made that humans should live on Mars if only as insurance against some apocalypse on Earth. IMHO, we'd be better off investing in spinning colonies in space (a.k.a. Ringworld) where it's easier to construct something that provides artificial gravity, sunlight, and radiation shielding via artificial iron cores, perhaps mined from asteroids.

Why would you never get to go outside? A pressure suit would be fine. Also, if colonization was an ongoing thing, there'd probably be new colonists to meet in waves.