Perspective
On things big and small.
The above video from the American Museum of Natural History shows the parts of the universe detectable to telescopes in 2009. Mapping of the universe has perhaps expanded since this video was made (it’s still on AMNH’s site), but the 13.7 billion light years it shows are sufficient to show how infinitesimally small the earth is. The outer limits of our solar system can be reached in a mere day traveling at light speed.
There’s a self-evident insignificance this scale imposes on this puny planet and our puny, Earth-bound lives. That insignificance could be construed nihilistically. One could revel in hedonistic delight, regardless of consequences to others or the planet, because fuck it, what does anything I do matter in a cosmic context? I see a lot of this fuck it spirit in affluent areas I tend to live in. People revel in their excess, driving $100,000 SUVs, live in $5 million homes, and eat their $300 meals while billions of people struggle and the planet melts, because YOLO.
Earth’s tinyness suggests to me that we only have this one little, precious planet, and these special little lives on that planet. Perhaps we should take great care with that planet, with one another, and with ourselves? And if we get rescued by aliens, they’ll probably only save the humans who know how to take care of their shit and their neighbor.
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