Carl Sagan: Pale Blue Dot

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torbad
January 31, 2008

On February 14, 1990, NASA commanded the Voyager 1 spacecraft, having completed its primary mission, to turn around to photograph the planets it had visited. One image Voyager returned was of Earth, 4 billion miles distant, showing up as a tiny dot.

"The spacecraft was a long way from home. I thought it would be a good idea, just after Saturn, to have them take one last glance homeward. From Saturn, the Earth would appear too small for Voyager to make out any detail. Our planet would be just a point of light, a lonely pixel hardly distinguishable from the other points of light Voyager would see: nearby planets, far off suns. But precisely because of the obscurity of our world thus revealed, such a picture might be worth having."

"It had been well understood by the scientists and philosophers of classical antiquity that the Earth was a mere point in a vast, encompassing cosmos -- but no one had ever seen it as such. Here was our first chance, and perhaps also our last."

"So, here they are: a mosaic of squares laid down on top of the planets in a background smattering of more distant stars. Because of the reflection of sunlight off the spacecraft, the Earth seems to be sitting in a beam of light, as if there were some special significance to this small world; but it's just an accident of geometry and optics. There is no sign of humans in this picture: not our reworking of the Earth's surface; not our machines; not ourselves. From this vantage point, our obsession with nationalism is nowhere in evidence. We are too small. On the scale of worlds, humans are inconsequential: a thin film of life on an obscure and solitary lump of rock and metal."

"Consider again that dot. That's here. That's home. That's us. On it, everyone you love, everyone you know, everyone you've ever heard of, every human being who ever was lived out their lives. The aggregate of all our joys and sufferings; thousands of confident religions, ideologies and economic doctrines; every hunter and forager; every hero and coward; every creator and destroyer of civilizations; every king and peasant, every young couple in love; every mother and father; every hopeful child; every inventor and explorer; every teacher of morals; every corrupt politician; every supreme leader; every superstar; 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. 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. It underscores our responsibility to deal more kindly with one another, and to preserve and cherish the only home we've ever known: the pale blue dot."
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I decided to combine the great audio from palebluefilms' video with the great footage from VendettaVV's video.

The monologue is spoken by Carl Sagan.

The music is Mogwai - Stop Coming to My House.

palebluefilms: http://youtube.com/watch?v=2pfwY2TNehw

VendettaVV: http://youtube.com/watch?v=g-aX4kT_N9c

Various individual clips are from a dozen other videos all over youtube.

Category: Nonprofits & Activism

Tags:

carl sagan pale blue dot earth space universe milky way galaxy humanity mogwai stop coming house atheism philosophy

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athosfonseca (1 week ago) Show Hide

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The most powerful words ever spoken by any man.

billhicks8 (1 week ago) Show Hide

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I've seen many videos since this. It is STILL the best video on Youtube, every human being should be well acquainted with the name 'Carl Sagan'

...and Mogwai ;-)

welshboi1649 (1 week ago) Show Hide

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In this passage Carl Sagan shows himself to be one of the finest philosophers of the twentieth century.

prinnydood (2 weeks ago) Show Hide

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If this is to be the only message left behind by humanity, I'd be content.

analfabeta44 (3 weeks ago) Show Hide

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check the NASA web page, you will find information and pictures... the Voayager seems so lonely..

June28July (3 weeks ago) Show Hide

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@analfabeta44 : The Earth is lonelier. The Earth can feel, the satellite doesn't have emotions.

analfabeta44 (3 weeks ago) Show Hide

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what I mean is that if you hear what the Voyager had recorded until now you will realize about the immensity of the universe. It is juts overwhelming! I know that the satellite does not feel, do not be silly!

June28July (3 weeks ago) Show Hide

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LOL! I know! :)

totallymaybe (3 weeks ago) Show Hide

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Me too, yet you'd think it would be the other way around.

Armuotas (1 month ago) Show Hide

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I realy like the irony of the words "...so all those generals and emperors could become a momentary masters of the fraction of the dot". It is comforting that no mater how "big" some people think they are in reality you are simply inconsequential.

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Carl Sagan: Pale Blue Dot

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