Zooming Out
Coping with world events can be a lot to handle. At a certain point, I just forget about watching the news.
I find it helps to either, zoom your focus in on the positive things in your own life (see post last week), or zoom out, way out, into the Universal perspective. This one really helps me too.
It’s probably the reason I was attracted to this book I picked up, and am currently reading. Neil deGrasse Tyson’s ‘Starry Messenger, Cosmic Perspectives on Civilization.’
In his third chapter, Earth & Moon, it summarizes for me, the real description of your perspective changing when being above earth, looking at earth. Astronaut Mike Massimino said this about his view of earth from space:
“The thought that went through my mind when I space-walked and looked down on Earth was that this must be the view from Heaven. Then it was replaced by another thought: ‘No, this is what Heaven must look like.’”
Reading just further, deGrasse Tyson writes, ‘how many on Earth, among those who are oppressed, or at war with their neighbours, or who hunger for food, would possibly think of Earth, itself, as Heaven? Gaining that on-orbit perspective and returning to Earth changes your relationship with our planet and with your fellow humans.’
That’s what I love and find so fascinating with this book: it’s filled with this perspective on civilization, and how science sees the world. In his fourth chapter, Conflict & Resolution, he writes: ‘A scientist’s entire mission in life is to discover features of nature that are true, even if they conflict with your philosophies. That’s why you’ll never see battalions of astrophysicists storming a hill.’ And describes all the ways scientists have worked together from multiple countries, for example the International Space Station, putting all political feelings aside. In fact, political feelings were non-existent when working on this area of exploration.
On the speed of evolution, consider that we live at most about 100 years. From ‘t-Rex to human beings in 66 million years – a stretch of time just 1.5 percent of the 3.8 billion years that Earth has hosted life.’ Makes many things in our life feel pretty minuscule doesn’t it? Our frustrations and annoyances take on a bit of a different view.
In the intro of Science & Society, ‘If we instead back away from all that divides us, you might find common, unifying perspectives on the world. If so, watch where you step. That new vista is neither north nor south nor east nor west of where you stand. In fact, the place exists nowhere on the compass rose. One must ascend from the Earth’s surface to get there – to see Earth, and everybody on it, in a way that leaves out immune to provincial interpretations of the world.’
A beautiful opening followed by fascinating information, with new things to think about and a perspective that exists no matter what is on the news.
Sending Love,
Devon