“Look again at that dot. That's here. That's home. That's us. On it everyone you love, everyone you know, everyone you ever heard of, every human being who ever was, lived out their lives. The aggregate of our joy and suffering, thousands of confident religions, ideologies, and economic doctrines, every hunter and forager, every hero and coward, every creator and destroyer of civilization, every king and peasant, every young couple in love, every mother and father, hopeful child, inventor and explorer, every teacher of morals, every corrupt politician, every "superstar," every "supreme leader," every saint and sinner in the history of our species lived there-on a mote of dust suspended in a sunbeam.
The Earth is a very small stage in a vast cosmic arena. Think of the endless cruelties visited by the inhabitants of one corner of this pixel on the scarcely distinguishable inhabitants of some other corner, how frequent their misunderstandings, how eager they are to kill one another, how fervent their hatreds. Think of the rivers of blood spilled by all those generals and emperors so that, in glory and triumph, they could become the momentary masters of a fraction of a dot.
Our posturings, our imagined self-importance, the delusion that we have some privileged position in the Universe, are challenged by this point of pale light. Our planet is a lonely speck in the great enveloping cosmic dark. In our obscurity, in all this vastness, there is no hint that help will come from elsewhere to save us from ourselves.
The Earth is the only world known so far to harbor life. There is nowhere else, at least in the near future, to which our species could migrate. Visit, yes. Settle, not yet. Like it or not, for the moment the Earth is where we make our stand.
It has been said that astronomy is a humbling and character-building experience. There is perhaps no better demonstration of the folly of human conceits than this distant image of our tiny world. To me, it underscores our responsibility to deal more kindly with one another, and to preserve and cherish the pale blue dot, the only home we've ever known.”
Pale Blue Dot: A Vision of the Human Future in Space
Yet we continue to destroy it, day by day, wilfully, knowingly, one piece of plastic at a time, one more emission, one more pile of junk tossed into the ocean, one more degraded or drained wetland, one more clearcut, one more extinction, one more war, and with no regard for those who will come after us. We are truly mad!
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Hari OM
ReplyDeleteI shall never forget the great honour of meeting Prof Sagan... all too briefly after that he departed this pale blue dot. His inspiration should never be forgotten. Thank you for this remembrance, David. YAMxx
I envy you that privilege, YAM.
DeleteThe television series he hosted, "Cosmos," really helped to educate me about our world and about the universe. He had a gift for making the complex understandable. He was a treasure whom we lost too soon.
ReplyDeleteYou have to wonder how he would be treated by the current administration.
DeleteSadly, there are all sorts of warnings and only a very few are listening.
ReplyDeleteCarl Sagan was a genius. I loved that man. We truly are mad David, we are destroying this wonderful planet, our home. It is so sad.
ReplyDelete...in the grand scheme of things, we are insignificant.
ReplyDeleteEven less than insignificant.
DeleteI remember Carl Sagan very well, David. I bought the book Cosmos when it came out. Hugs and kisses, Marit
ReplyDeleteI'm angry, in that kind of mad way. Great man who saw what was coming. I wonder what the generations who are now young, who are now learning about climate change (at least those I've asked)...what will their survival look like.
ReplyDeleteThe short answer is bleak. Very bleak.
DeleteI enjoyed Carl Sagan's writing!
ReplyDeleteSi no miramos por el planeta, eso va a traer duras consecuencias.
ReplyDeleteQue tengas una buena semana.
An inspiring pioneer and will always be remembered!
ReplyDeleteI am not so sure he was a pioneer. There were many other scientists with similar views, but they lacked the media exposure of Carl Sagan.
DeleteThank you for this post and remembering Carl Sagan.
ReplyDeleteAll the best Jan
Where are the Carl Sagans of today?
DeleteWe are a mere speck in the cosmos. Maybe even less than a speck.
ReplyDeleteI loved the series Cosmos!....what a great content that educated us!.......Abrazotes, Marcela
ReplyDeleteCar Sagan was a very wise man. It's too bad in evolution people evolved to be like we are. Some of what people are is modern ignorance and refusal to look at the world, but some of who people ( in general are) have the selfish Gene. Have a great new week David.
ReplyDeleteAre you talking about the selfish gene in the way that Richard Dawkins postulates it?
DeleteThank you. I read that book a couple of times and then my children did, too.
ReplyDeleteHi dear friend of mine, que tal!
ReplyDeletethe beautiful words of Sagan on our beautiful planet touched my heart 🌎🦅
Have a nice star o´week ahead . Bisous
Brilliant man. One of his famous sayings - "For myself, I like a universe that includes much that is unknown and, at the same time, much that is knowable".
ReplyDeleteAll kinds of warnings are given, but there are only a few people who listen to them and there are a few lunatics on this planet who wage war.
ReplyDeleteI wish you a nice week.
Greetings Irma
Great post about a great planetary scientist. Sagan made an interesting analysis in his book written in 1994.
ReplyDeleteYes, we are truly mad.
ReplyDeleteHe was certainly a brilliant and inspirational man. The disregard for our beautiful planet is disgraceful and scary. Don't get me started on plastics!!!
ReplyDeleteIt is amazing to me how little people seem to care. Plastics are one area where we can all make a real difference, with little inconvenience in our lives. Yet there are bloggers who routinely post images where they are using plastic water bottles or eating in restaurants with plastic utensils, plastic straws, disposable plates, styrofoam containers etc. Breastfeeding mothers now have microplastics in their milk and are feeding it to their infants. Whales get entangled in fishing gear, much of it plastic - and on and on it goes. Yet still we won't pay heed.
DeleteThe passage from the book you have chosen is great.
ReplyDeleteThat the world is going crazy is evident, you just have to watch or listen to the news.
Gracias David, un abrazo
Carl's words fall unheard on those in the US who don't want to think outside of their tiny little sphere's of life.
ReplyDeleteThe passage was thoughtful, thank you.
Thank you for the reminder of a man ahead of his time!
ReplyDeleteSo glad to see this here David, thank you for resharing. I read it again word to word and took your last paragraph to heart.
ReplyDeleteThrough the years all like messages seem to have fallen on deaf ears and sadly, still are.. It seems that if it doesn't affect you individually that one doesn't need to deal with it...I wish those sentiments were contagious..Thoughtful post Davidxxoo
ReplyDeleteI was working at a pbs station when "Cosmos" came on -- billions and billions. He was right then, all the more so now.
ReplyDeleteThe fact that he was right has made little difference, has it?
DeleteWe had and read his Cosmos book, it was a great read.
ReplyDeleteOne can't be clearer about how we destroy our home, still, it seems that only a minority cares. You mention plastics - that's my biggest "pet peeve". It's something I try to avoid whenever possible, but boy! it's not possible to avoid it. Everything seems to be wrapped in plastic. But there are ways to reduce it, but it's often seen as too inconvenient by many people. Because convenience is so much more important, right (I hope you hear the sarcasm). However, as long as the plastic wrapped product (I'm speaking mainly about groceries here) is less expensive than the sustainable packaged one, we will not change anything. A family of four simply can't afford the gallon of milk in a glass container instead of the plastic one or the fresh produce at the farmers market instead of the one packed in plastic. Etc. etc. It is so so worng. Supposedly we are the intelligent species, but it's a very crooked intelligence if the only thing we can do is detroying our own home, the only one we have.
ReplyDeleteI remember this text by Carl Sagan about the little blue dot, it impressed me when I read it and it continues to impress me now when I read it again. Sometimes we forget how insignificant we are.
ReplyDeleteMany kisses, David.
Recuerdo este texto de Carl Sagan sobre el pequeño punto azul, me impresionó cuando lo leí y me sigue impresionando ahora al leerlo de nuevo. A veces olvidamos lo insignificantes que somos.
Muchos besos, David.
Very pleasant reading!
ReplyDeleteI could hear Carl Sagan's distinct voice as I was reading this. A really great man.
ReplyDeleteHe was indeed.
DeleteKiitos postauksestasi David.
ReplyDeleteHello David :)
ReplyDeleteI remember watching the series Cosmos on TV and was impressed with the way the brilliant Carl Sagan hosted it by making the complexities of the universe easily understood.Thank you David for this tribute to a far seeing scientist who if he was still alive today perhaps could influence those people who are destroying our planet, our beautiful small blue dot in the universe. Am I being too naive to imagine people in power would listen.
A big hug and XXX
Sonjia.
Very nice to read. He was a brilliant man. I have heard of him in my time at school. Have a nice day. Greets
ReplyDeleteI loved Sagan's shows on TV and was a diehard fan. Too bad he died. As for life on Earth, it is what it is.
ReplyDeleteI loved the Carl Sagan shows. I wish people would understand that we are the caregivers.
ReplyDeleteHow profound and how beautifully written.
ReplyDeleteHe had great command of language in addition to superb scientific knowledge.
DeleteHe estado leyendo sobre su vida, y me ha gustado mucho, no sabía mucho de el. Abrazos.
ReplyDeleteYes. Our capacity to focus on little selfish “wants” is greater than our ability to see the big picture.
ReplyDeleteQuerido David las personas que amamos la naturaleza o al menos yo lo veo con tristeza y pesar, la mayoría no piensa en nada, su cabeza no asume el peligro. Si ve un grupo de personas pasar por un lugar reserva de la biosfera, con flora y fauna para respetar y vas a la carrera, dando voces, arrancando flores etc...Que se puede esperar de esos cerebros, yo al menos nada. Muy interesante tu aportación. Muchas gracias. Abrazos y besos para ti y para Miriam.
ReplyDelete