Carl Sagan's Pale Blue Dot: A Vision of the Human Future in Space:
During our discussion of
The Space Trilogy, we talked about how solitude in nature can bring peace. For me however, it brings up questions of a mental connection found through nature as well. Is the reality of the vastness of Space that we
are but small pieces connected to a larger plan? Our world and reality is as Carl Sagan's Pale Blue Dot: A Vision of the Human Future in Space describes,
"a very small stage in a vast cosmic arena. On [the Earth], every human
being who ever was lived out their lives." Our self-importance is trivialized by Sagan's
idea that even the greatest of our leaders are only "momentary masters of
a fraction of a dot." Sagan sees Earth's inhabitants as temporary, but I think that while their time on Earth is temporary and that is indeed trivial, the souls of Earth's inhabitants can live on.
Though Sagan is well-known as an atheist, his interpretations
of the cosmos are similar to Lewis's ideas of creation and duty in nature. We discussed in class how everything in our natural world is good and has value, and talked of the belief in Christianity that because humans have dominion over things, they have a responsibility to care
for these things. I think that Sagan is saying
something similar to this; as a piece of the vastness of the cosmos, we
have a duty to rule and care for our world, saying our "imagined
self-importance underscores our responsibility to preserve
and cherish the pale blue dot." Though Sagan says this duty comes from our imagined self-importance, we can also see how this idea comes from a higher reasoning of keeping balance and order to our world, to find peace in the big picture.
No comments:
Post a Comment