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| The iconic Pale Blue Dot picture Courtesy of wikipedia.org |
The cosmos is all that is, was, or ever will be. The word cosmos comes from the
ancient Greek term meaning order or world. For all the time that humans have walked
on this earth they have gazed up at the sky in wonder and down at the earth in
amazement in an attempt to understand the beauty of the order and logic of the cosmos
that surrounds us each and every day. Each tribe and group of the ancient past created
a way of attempting to find reason behind the workings of the world. They invented
stories like those of Greek mythology where each god correlated with a planet. Over the years
we, the human race, have lost contact with the cosmos. As we light up our world with
electricity and technology we spend more time looking down than we do looking up. We
have grown distant from the Cosmos. While the cultures of our ancestors were
intrinsically connected to the sky and the workings of nature our world has become
more and more self centered. We live in an individualistic culture where not much
thought is given to what else is out there or how valuable life here on earth is.
However, there still are people who do recognize how valuable our place in the
universe is and try to share that perspective with everyone because they recognize how
important that point of view is.
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| Dr. Carl Sagan Courtesy of carlsaganday.com |
Carl Sagan was a planetary scientist for NASA and a very successful popularizer
of science during his time on earth. Through his television show, Cosmos: A Personal Voyage, he shared with over 600 million people in 60 different countries a hunger to understand our place in the universe and to understand why that position matters intellectually, culturally, and emotionally. He called this outlook on the universe “The Cosmic Perspective” and that is perspective is one I believe that we as humanity have lost and absolutely need to regain.
So what is this Cosmic Perspective? Well it is the understanding that the Earth is
a tiny mote of dust traveling around a medium sized star on a spiral arm of the Milky
Way galaxy with around 100 billion other stars in the galaxy which is only one of 100
billion other galaxies. Yet, the atoms that comprise life on earth were forged in the
center of a massive star. We, humans, are seemingly insignificant but very special at the
same time for we are the only Earth and one human race. To have a cosmic perspective
means having an understanding of how precious life in the cosmos is and how
important it is to understand what is around us.
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| Apollo 11 Moon Landing: One of the most iconic chapters of US space exploration Courtesy of nasa.gov |
If one looks back through history it is very easy to
spot the people who had a cosmic
perspective. They were our ancestors who tried to find their place in the stars. They
were the scientists, the visionaries, the people who questioned why life exists and the
purpose of it. The people with the cosmic perspective were the ones who persistently
asked why even in the face of adversity. They were the explorers who searched to the
ends of the earth for new knowledge because they understood that a knowledge of
where we are in the cosmos is essential to the survival of the human race.
The urge to explore is something that has died away over the past few centuries
as we have settled and conquered most of the unknown places on earth. In the 1500’s
when the conquest of the America’s was in full bloom people traveled the world in
search of new and exotic places, people, and things. While part of the motive was
commerce there was also a raw search for knowledge. National spirit for exploration. Pride in knowing was out there. And it is very obvious which countries held exploration at high value, they are the world superpowers today. However, that spirit for exploration and knowledge has died away. We are now a world that doesn’t look out or up. For the most part we look down. At our cell phones and our increasingly busy lives. We go about life without realizing that there is an infinite expanse of the cosmos just waiting for us to explore it. As Carl Sagan once said, “We sailed the earthly oceans but now it is time to step foot into the last unexplored area of human interests. We stand at the edge
of the cosmic ocean, just waiting to be explored.”
So how does one obtain a cosmic perspective? Well, the starting place is a
realization of the importance of the acquisition of knowledge. And how do we gain
knowledge? SCIENCE. Now when I say science I would not be surprised if what came
to mind are boring textbook readings, difficult labs, and a generally not good feeling. But
if that is what you believe is science, then your perception about science is off by 180
degrees. Science is everywhere and everything. Every time you ask a question and
figure out a way to answer it you are performing an experiment. You’re following the age
old scientific method. You’re gaining new knowledge about the cosmos and your place
in it and I believe there is nothing more important than that. Carl Sagan once said, “We
are a way for the cosmos to know itself.” By experimenting, questioning, and
researching we can push the boundaries of our knowledge and dare to have a cosmic
perspective and to learn about the cosmos that we inhabit and are also a deeply
connected part of.
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| Our cosmic address Courtesy of nasa.gov |
universe, our cosmic address. Let’s start with what we know. We are in the United States States of
America which is one of 196 countries on the planet Earth. Earth is located within the Solar System of 8 planets. That solar system is located on the edge of one of the spiral arms of the Milky Way. The Milky Way is located in the Local Group which is in turn each house at least 100 billion stars. Not to mention that many leading astronomers and astrophysicists believe that our universe may be only one of many. That we may live in a multiverse housing an infinite numbers of stars and galaxies. located in the Virgo Supercluster. Overall, there are over 100 billion galaxies in our observable universe that each contain an estimated 100 billion stars which have countless number of exoplanets around them.
Feeling small and insignificant yet? That’s okay. That’s part of having a cosmic
perspective. In the 1970’s Carl Sagan convinced NASA to turn the Voyager 1 spacecraft
around for one last glimpse of earth as it headed out into the cosmos. The picture is
famous for the perspective it gives. Saturn’s rings grace the foreground while one has to
really look for earth. In that picture our precious home planet, earth, is about the size of
a grain of sand, a pale blue dot. In all that vastness that surrounds our planet there is no
hint that help will come from elsewhere to save us from ourselves. Our imagined self-
importance, that we are somehow better than the rest is challenged by that pale point of
light. The Earth is the only known place with life. We are it. There is no other human
race. There comes a time in our lives when we realize that we as people, as a species,
as a planet are not the center of the universe and we come to value everything on this
speck of dust floating in the sky.
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| Carl Sagan saying it like it is Courtesy of pintrest.com |
is incorrect. I think that to have a cosmic perspective is empowering because with it
comes a respect and appreciation for life itself. As Carl Sagan said, “Every one of us is,
in the cosmic perspective, precious. If a human disagrees with you, let him live. In a
hundred billion galaxies you will not find another. To me it underscores our responsibility
to deal more kindly with other humans and to protect and love the pale blue dot
because it is the only home we have ever known. If we take this knowledge to heart, if
we come to know our place in the cosmos and to love nature and our place in it then we
will be remembered as those who paved the way for the survival and bettering of the
human race.
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