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Zedic
Amarr Universalis Imperium
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Posted - 2010.04.13 16:49:00 -
[1]
Perhaps this has already been posted, but we could discuss it again. We hail from all over the world and we share common problems, hopes and hopefully better futures ahead. I'm sure everyone here knows who Carl Sagan is, and has seen / heard "The Pale Blue Dot" before, but perhaps it's a good time to hear it again. This vid has some great music (but a little too loud in spots) and the imagery that accompanies his words is simply amazing to me.
Check it out. We are here: The Pale Blue Dot.
Originally by: Carl Sagan 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 cosmosłbut no one had ever seen it as such. Here was our first chance, and perhaps also our last for decades to come.
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; hopeful child; 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 therełon 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 obscurityłin all this vastnessłthere 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.
"Zedic, would probably, somehow, make it all blow up." - Akima |
Irida Mershkov
Gallente Capsuleers of Doom Opticon Alliance
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Posted - 2010.04.13 16:51:00 -
[2]
This is now a general Carl Sagan thread.
Carl Sagan is excellent, I need to re-read Cosmos.
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Zedic
Amarr Universalis Imperium
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Posted - 2010.04.13 18:33:00 -
[3]
Here are the movie clips from that vid:
Cosmos: Carl Sagan The Planets Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory Some Like It Hot The Big Lebowski Moulin Rouge! Me and You and Everyone We Know Memento The Elephant Man Das Leben der Anderen Amelie Red Beard The Ten Commandments Glengarry Glen Ross Terminator 2 - Judgment Day The Lord of the Rings - The Two Towers Yojimbo 2001 - A Space Odyssey Monty Python and the Holy Grail Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind Life Is Beautiful Cinema Paradiso The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou To Kill a Mockingbird The Dead Zone Ultimate Jordan Leon - The Professional Once Upon a Time in the West Vanilla Sky Gattaca Gladiator Braveheart Red Sorghum Hero Reservoir Dogs Gangs of New York American History X Taxi Driver Mystic River Citizen Kane The Right Stuff Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon Dancer in the Dark The Usual Suspects MillerĘs Crossing Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas Rounders Scent of a Woman The Infernal Affairs What Time Is It There? Brazil Superman - The Movie North By Northwest The Shawshank Redemption Patton Mission To Mars Blade Runner Rear Window Lady and the Tramp The Proposition Ferris BuellerĘs Day Off Feathers in the Wind In the Mood for Love SinginĘ in the Rain
(copied from a post on Gizmodo)
"Zedic, would probably, somehow, make it all blow up." - Akima |
Something Random
Gallente The Barrow Boys
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Posted - 2010.04.13 19:17:00 -
[4]
Thanks for posting that, id never seen it or heard the speech. It was definitely missing from my life.
Enlightened +1
Originally by: CCP Fallout :facepalm:
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Daxel Magmalloy
Caldari UK Corp
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Posted - 2010.04.13 19:18:00 -
[5]
Nice vid.
A bit idealistic but no less true for that.
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Arianhod
Red Dwarf Mining Corporation space weaponry and trade
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Posted - 2010.04.13 23:24:00 -
[6]
Thread is now about epic Science videos.
Thunderf00t - The Invisible Beauty.
And thankyou for the Sagan video.... it is what gives me faith of this race of people known as humankind.
Haruhiists - Overloading Out of Pod discussions since 2007. Haruhiists - Redeclaring open warfare on Out of Pod since 2010. |
Zyck
Dark-Rising IT Alliance
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Posted - 2010.04.14 03:57:00 -
[7]
Posting to confirm that Carl Sagan was a great man, and that more people need to watch and read his work.
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Surfin's PlunderBunny
Minmatar Anti Fundie Patrol
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Posted - 2010.04.14 09:20:00 -
[8]
Originally by: Zedic
Originally by: Carl Sagan thousands of confident religions
ibtl for discussing religion!!!!
Originally by: Xen Gin
Originally by: FOl2TY8
I know that some people like to have voluntary periods of abstinence.
Yeah, I use that excuse too.
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Gambit Stryder
Privateers
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Posted - 2010.04.14 09:55:00 -
[9]
Ramirez! Create an apple pie from scratch.
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Kuar Z'thain
Fraser's Finest
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Posted - 2010.04.14 22:17:00 -
[10]
Originally by: Gambit Stryder Ramirez! Create an apple pie from scratch.
If you wish to make an apple pie from autotune...
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Istvaan Shogaatsu
Caldari Guiding Hand Social Club
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Posted - 2010.04.15 02:55:00 -
[11]
Agent Smith sounds like Carl Sagan.
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Slightly Green
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Posted - 2010.04.15 03:49:00 -
[12]
I'd forgotten all about this. Thanks for the post. :) There's an excellent Carl Sagan series out on DVD at the moment, I believe. I don't know that it's aged well in this generation of high-end computer graphics... but the content's impressive never-the-less.
S. Dark Towers
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Kuar Z'thain
Fraser's Finest
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Posted - 2010.04.15 04:10:00 -
[13]
Originally by: Slightly Green I'd forgotten all about this. Thanks for the post. :) There's an excellent Carl Sagan series out on DVD at the moment, I believe. I don't know that it's aged well in this generation of high-end computer graphics... but the content's impressive never-the-less.
S. Dark Towers
They held up well.
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Louis deGuerre
Gallente Amicus Morte Shock an Awe
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Posted - 2010.04.15 15:36:00 -
[14]
Recent, but excellent : The Known Universe by AMNH and some homage to the master : Carl Sagan 4th Dimension Explanation I hope the aliens bring him back soon... Sol: A microwarp drive? In a battleship? Are you insane? They arenĘt built for this! Clear Skies - The Movie
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Taua Roqa
Minmatar Welcome To The North
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Posted - 2010.04.15 16:56:00 -
[15]
Crumbly but good, Mr Anderson
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Straight Chillen
Gallente Solar Wind AAA Citizens
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Posted - 2010.04.15 17:17:00 -
[16]
Billions, upon billions.
Carl Sagan is the man, I miss watching Cosmo's every morning. Please resize image to a maximum of 400 x 120, not exceeding 24000 bytes. If you would like further details please mail [email protected] ~Saint |
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