Random, Random 2.0

[ponchi101]

That made me feel so useless.....
Impressive. Txs.

[ti-amie]

Sound on!

[Deuce]

^ Very impressive stretch marks!

[ti-amie]

[Deuce]

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7 of the Best Photos of Earth Taken From Space...

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[ti-amie]

I think this one is my favorite.

[ti-amie]

This one kind of puts things in perspective doesn't it?

[Deuce]

I think this one is my favorite.

Me, too.
I've loved that photo ever since I first saw it.

[Deuce]

This one kind of puts things in perspective doesn't it?

Indeed.
It makes the biggest assholes with the largest egos look extremely insignificant.
It's probably not a photo that the egomaniacs will be hanging on their walls.

[Owendonovan]

This one kind of puts things in perspective doesn't it?

This is the kind of perspective magic mushrooms can make you do deep dive into while on.

[ponchi101]

This one kind of puts things in perspective doesn't it?

Sure. But then you can realize another bit.
WE were the ones that were able to send spaceship that far into the Solar System to take a photo of our planet. WE are the ones that have grasped enough of the laws of the universe to precisely maneuver such a craft to take that picture. Furthermore, we designed the gadget to capture the image AND send it back to us.
A tiny, insignificant species in a rather remote planet has reached a state in which we can do things like that.
In about 5 BN years, the sun will engulf us. And everything we ever were, will be vaporized and swallowed by the same star that nurtured us.
Except that no, it won't be. Already, Pioneer 10 & 11, Voyager 1 & 2, Deep Horizons and who knows which other future crafts will be out there in the immense void of the universe, microscopic reminders of a small primate that evolved to produce some technology that is praiseworthy.
Are we "insignificant"? That is one view, the pessimistic view, the progress-phobic view. The other view is: Sure. But see what we can do.
Something that we collectively can be very proud of.

[Suliso]

By that time we could easily be multi galaxy species or long extinct. People fail to realize how long a time 1 million years is. The entire history of settled human populations (that is after agriculture) spans only ca 1.5% of that time. And one million years is not much as far as geological processes are concerned.

Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic [Arthur C. Clarke]. We could be wizards in just a century or two.

[ponchi101]

By that time we could easily be multi galaxy species or long extinct. People fail to realize how long a time 1 million years is. The entire history of settled human populations (that is after agriculture) spans only ca 1.5% of that time. And one million years is not much as far as geological processes are concerned.

Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic [Arthur C. Clarke]. We could be wizards in just a century or two.

Of course. The progress that we have achieved in barely 500 years of Scientific Revolution is something to be very proud of.
But there will always be the existentialistic nincompoop that will come with the denials: "We are barbarians, we are destroying the planet, are we truly civilized?, we are nothing but animals" and on and on. Sure, we have PROBLEMS. But we live in the best of all times and, as that photo shows, our reach has increased by millions. Which the science denying a******s will always frown upon.
Can we blow ourselves up in thermonuclear Armageddon tomorrow? We can. We could. But we are reaching almost 70 years of nuclear bombs and after those first two, we realized they should not be used. Every example for our potential demise has not happened. The pessimists will always be right that it will take ONE bad moment for us to really hurt ourselves. That is just a scenario that must be considered.
But images like these are encouraging, to me, for the species. A Pale Blue Dot? Yes, that is all we are. And we are the sole species in the planet that knows that.

Anyway, you and I don't disagree on that.

[Deuce]

This one kind of puts things in perspective doesn't it?

Sure. But then you can realize another bit.
WE were the ones that were able to send spaceship that far into the Solar System to take a photo of our planet. WE are the ones that have grasped enough of the laws of the universe to precisely maneuver such a craft to take that picture. Furthermore, we designed the gadget to capture the image AND send it back to us.
A tiny, insignificant species in a rather remote planet has reached a state in which we can do things like that.
In about 5 BN years, the sun will engulf us. And everything we ever were, will be vaporized and swallowed by the same star that nurtured us.
Except that no, it won't be. Already, Pioneer 10 & 11, Voyager 1 & 2, Deep Horizons and who knows which other future crafts will be out there in the immense void of the universe, microscopic reminders of a small primate that evolved to produce some technology that is praiseworthy.
Are we "insignificant"? That is one view, the pessimistic view, the progress-phobic view. The other view is: Sure. But see what we can do.
Something that we collectively can be very proud of.

WE are also the ones who are destroying our own planet through OUR selfishness and greed and ego.
That's not a 'pessimistic view', but a realistic one.

All of this exploration of 'space' is impressive and interesting and fine and good - but if we follow our current path, it will only lead to us going on to destroy other planets and moons as we are destroying Earth.
Again - not a pessimistic view, but a realistic one, firmly based in factual evidence of what human beings as a species do.

[ti-amie]