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My Trip to Space Filled Me with Overwhelming Sadness

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Re: My Trip to Space Filled Me with Overwhelming Sadness

#51
post #34
post #2

> I learned later that I was not alone in this feeling. It is called the “Overview Effect” and is not uncommon among astronauts, including Yuri Gagarin, Michael Collins, Sally Ride, and many others. Essentially, when someone travels to space and views Earth from orbit, a sense of the planet’s fragility takes hold in an ineffable, instinctive manner. Author Frank White first coined the term in 1987: “There are no bord…

This make me wonder if flat-earth and other limiting cosmological views are mental shields against the realization that nothing matters except our peculiar existence.

generally limited world views regardless of the facts are a mental shield of people afraid of something. the problem is, the fear is so deep beneath the crust of hatred and other negative emotions that getting to it and working with it is often practically impossible

Re: My Trip to Space Filled Me with Overwhelming Sadness

#52

Worth watching is the moment Shatner tries to explain his experience to Bezos, and Bezos barely listens. A portrait of two very different men. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Q1AilPvC37c

That was disturbing.

Though no one notices, because they are revered for what often comes easy to them, accomplished actors are by and large humble even though the opposite is often believed. Besides inconceivable amounts of money, the one common defining quality among billionaires is narcissism, shorthand for lack of empathy, self-importance, entitlement, need for constant admiration, fear of criticism, etc.

Re: My Trip to Space Filled Me with Overwhelming Sadness

#53
post #47

Worth watching is the moment Shatner tries to explain his experience to Bezos, and Bezos barely listens. A portrait of two very different men. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Q1AilPvC37c

I watched it live. It was uncomfortable and heartbreaking. William had a very profound experience and he wanted to explain it and thank Jeff. Jeff could not even focus long enough to let William get a few sentences out. Jeff’ s “team” (I think led by his significant other) was essentially throwing a frat party behind him - screaming ”whooo” and drinking/spraying champagne. It was sad.

> It was uncomfortable and heartbreaking.

Yeah. I'm squirming at the memory. Bezos says "I wanna hear this! ..." but then goes back to the party.

I don't think he really wanted to hear it.

Re: My Trip to Space Filled Me with Overwhelming Sadness

#54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Back in the day, i was naively hoping, that the internet had a similar effect on man.

They're opposites: one's being far removed from humans, one's seeing too much of them at once. Try building a 50k-capacity orbital hotel for instagram tourists, and see what happens to this #OverviewEffect.

> They're opposites: one's being far removed from humans, one's seeing too much of them at once.

I get your point. What i meant was, the internet empowering mankind to communicate in 'real-time', transparent to man made concepts like borders and countries. I was hoping that this 'wormhole' would strengthen the sense of a global community.

Re: My Trip to Space Filled Me with Overwhelming Sadness

#55
post #2

> I learned later that I was not alone in this feeling. It is called the “Overview Effect” and is not uncommon among astronauts, including Yuri Gagarin, Michael Collins, Sally Ride, and many others. Essentially, when someone travels to space and views Earth from orbit, a sense of the planet’s fragility takes hold in an ineffable, instinctive manner. Author Frank White first coined the term in 1987: “There are no bord…

Back in the day, i was naively hoping, that the internet had a similar effect on man.

Nobel winning literature is the best means I've found to trigger some form of enlightenment / global human and other life empathy.

Re: My Trip to Space Filled Me with Overwhelming Sadness

#56

Worth watching is the moment Shatner tries to explain his experience to Bezos, and Bezos barely listens. A portrait of two very different men. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Q1AilPvC37c

After reading the article, and understanding what he was trying to articulate this is even more uncomfortable. Shatner was dealing with his whole worldview changing.

Re: My Trip to Space Filled Me with Overwhelming Sadness

#57
post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We are the baddies. I live in a small EU country, and have soldiers in syria now. We could atleast have pulled them back home, before pointing a finger at putin, but we didn't even do that (and they'd all fit in a minibus). We're currently destroying our own economies because someone else is doing something that we've been doing for years now. Technically we deserve being cold and maybe some kind of a revolution, bec…

Especially as someone from a small EU country, this seems completely different to me, unless living in a Putin puppet state is an acceptable alternative to you. Invading other countries is bad (including when the EU does it). Invading and massacring Ukraine is bad. Both can be true at the same time. And only because we haven’t eliminated the first doesn’t mean we shouldn’t fight the second.

But we don't even plan to eliminate the first. How can we point the finger at putin, if we're doing the same as him? We're literally standing on a pile of middle-eastern bodies (let's not forget why the middle eastern crisis even started), and screaming "...but putin!".

Look at the french for example... they have literally their embassies burning now, because people want their army out of their sovereign country, and the media sits quiet, mentioning maybe "some protests". The EU is threathening Hungary for wanting to buy russian gas, while sitting quiet about France.

Why should putin have to stop, if we don't? And if we care for peoples lives and sovereign countries, why don't we care about the ones we're destroying right now?

Re: My Trip to Space Filled Me with Overwhelming Sadness

#58

This was very well written, very insightful and humble. Considering he's usually an asshole to people IRL. But I guess he just comes off that way when he wants to convey his truth to people. Not completely foreign to myself, having discovered that I'm actually autistic in my late 30s. That explained a lot. Anyways, this overview effect is something I always felt, even without going into space. I always felt we were w…

>> my mind always reaches for requires autocracy to fix the problems

Maybe try reaching for something else (such as technological solutions). We are currently on the brink of armageddon due to an autocratic regime. Centralization IRL necessarily leads to corruption over time. It's efficient but not robust.

Re: My Trip to Space Filled Me with Overwhelming Sadness

#59

This was very well written, very insightful and humble. Considering he's usually an asshole to people IRL. But I guess he just comes off that way when he wants to convey his truth to people. Not completely foreign to myself, having discovered that I'm actually autistic in my late 30s. That explained a lot. Anyways, this overview effect is something I always felt, even without going into space. I always felt we were w…

in a sense our problems are caused by our desire to be free

this is an important point. and the next step is the realization that, therefore, the only way to make the world better is through education, and motivating people to strive to be better themselves, to think about our future, to contribute to the advancement of society.

Re: My Trip to Space Filled Me with Overwhelming Sadness

#60
post #7
post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Maybe all the billionaires should go.

If the profound positive impact on Amazon policy-making by Bezos after his trip is an indicator, then yes.

He stepped down as CEO last February and went to space last July.
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