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Look again at that dot. That's here. That's home. That's us. On it everyone you love, everyone you know, everyone you ever heard of, every human being who ever was, lived out their lives. The aggregate of our joy and suffering, thousands of confident religions, ideologies, and economic doctrines, every hunter and forager, every hero and coward, every creator and destroyer of civilization, every king and peasant, every young couple in love, every mother and father, hopeful child, inventor and explorer, every teacher of morals, every corrupt politician, every "superstar," every "supreme leader," every saint and sinner in the history of our species lived there – on a mote of dust suspended in a sunbeam.
The Earth is a very small stage in a vast cosmic arena. Think of the rivers of blood spilled by all those generals and emperors so that, in glory and triumph, they could become the momentary masters of a fraction of a dot. Think of the endless cruelties visited by the inhabitants of one corner of this pixel on the scarcely distinguishable inhabitants of some other corner, how frequent their misunderstandings, how eager they are to kill one another, how fervent their hatreds.
Our posturings, our imagined self-importance, the delusion that we have some privileged position in the Universe, are challenged by this point of pale light. Our planet is a lonely speck in the great enveloping cosmic dark. In our obscurity, in all this vastness, there is no hint that help will come from elsewhere to save us from ourselves.
The Earth is the only world known so far to harbor life. There is nowhere else, at least in the near future, to which our species could migrate. Visit, yes. Settle, not yet. Like it or not, for the moment the Earth is where we make our stand.
It has been said that astronomy is a humbling and character-building experience. There is perhaps no better demonstration of the folly of human conceits than this distant image of our tiny world. To me, it underscores our responsibility to deal more kindly with one another, and to preserve and cherish the pale blue dot, the only home we've ever known.
-Carl Sagan
Wow intense. I think being alone was somehow embedded into our minds through evolution. I definitely agree that people try to seek their indetity in this world and to reach "self-actualization", as we learned in psychology class. Although what I am learning as I am growing up is that we take for granted our consciouness..it allows for so much of our complex thoughts and interactions. Society depended on religious beliefs to comfort themselves from the unknown. But now with the information we are constantly learning about ourselves and the universe..society needs to break free from that idea of external locus of control (that outside force control ourselves and everything) and switch to an interncal locus of control (that we influence everything). Instead of "finding ourselves," we should "create ourselves." I think people need to become more aware of what occurs outside their bubble of a life, and realize what more we can do as a humanity.
ReplyDeletePerhaps the idea of being alone was somehow embedded into our DNA as we evolved. The notion that we are supreme and therefore have the right to hurt others, or claim territory on everything, may be linked to the fact that we are like a spoiled child unaware of life that is possible outside of our solar system. We depend so highly on the connections we make with other and with the world, and we have such a huge thirst for understanding all that is around us.
Though the question of life at the moment cannot be answered, I believe the origin of consciousness could possibly give us a clue..because what else significance would a mind be? We think to create, and we live to be happy. That is all for now.
My thoughts on humanity are that humans need to accept their limitations but be inspired to improve the human condition. Our success or failure as a human race is up for grabs. There are many current issues in society today, some more weighty than others, that could cause our early destruction...such as what things we are eating and it's affects on our health, or the constant threat of wars in other countries. Though these aspects may not ever be completely erased from our tendencies, it doesn't mean that these issues can't be resolved in some way, lessened, or improved. Despite our many flaws, I think we are progressing in intelligence through technology and science. What we discover and create could benefit humanity and help us to continue progression.
I think all creatures fear death. The sole goal of insects and animals, and all other living things is to survive. I think the evidence is all around us in nature, and for humans it is even more apparent. I think the difference though between how we live our lives versus how animals do, is that we have this concept of happiness. Our efforts are not just targeted toward the extension of life, but also the idea of being happy while we are alive. It is strange that for some humans, "living" is not enough...we have a great need to understand things, and a strong desire to be happy. If people continue to live ignorant lives in their little bubbles our race will surely die off sooner...with a mind such as ours we can go further, beyond the stars!
P.S. Sorry for my long comment, but it's a very interesting topic..and I hope I was able to give you some insight with my perspective. Reality for many is what we make of it, it is unfortunate that some make it so unappealing or unbearable. But even though some people seem to be concerned with petty things, you have to look beyond that. Our goal should be to create self-awared and intelligent people...and weed out those who will cause our downfall. Our world may be microscopic to the universe, but our world means everything to us...we give our lives meaning not the other way around. Even if we find that life is a common thing through out the universe, it is never insignificant because it's so amazing..or more so that consciouness is soo amazing. It is all so fascinating....and it doesn't need a purpose. As Carl Sagan implies in your quote...we have life, that is all..we should cherish it, and push our abilities to the extreme.
ReplyDeletebravo!!! I wish everyone look at the world the way you do!
ReplyDeletedo you mind if I link your post through my blog?
ReplyDeletesure go ahead! :)
ReplyDelete