[9mm_fan]

He said: "From out there on the moon, international politics look so petty. You want to grab a politician by the scruff of the neck and drag him a quarter of a million miles out and say, ‘Look at that, you son of a bitch.’

Ed Mitchell was interviewed about this "overview effect" (a feeling of cosmic connectedness coupled with a sense of euphoria that many astronauts report experiencing). He had some really interesting comments:

And suddenly it settled in, a visceral moment of knowing that the molecules in my body, the molecules in the spacecraft, and the molecules in my partners had been prototyped and manufactured in an ancient generation of stars. It was not an intellectual realization, but a deep knowing that was accompanied by a feeling of ecstasy and oneness that I had never experienced in that way before.

In that instant, I knew for certain that what I was seeing was no accident. That it did not occur randomly and without order. That life did not, by accident, arise from the primordial earthly sea. It was as though my awareness reached out to touch the furthest star and I was aware of being an integral part of the entire universe, for one brief instance. Any questions that my curious mind might have had about our progress, about our destiny, about the nature of the universe, suddenly melted away as I experienced that oneness. I could reach out and touch the furthest parts and experience the vast reaches of the universe. It was clear that those tiny pinpoints of light in such brilliant profusion were a unity. They were linked together as part of the whole as they framed and formed a backdrop for this view of planet Earth. I knew we are not alone in this universe, that Earth was one of millions, perhaps billions, of planets like our own with intelligent life, all playing a role in the great creative plan for the evolution of life.

[Fegasderty]

The Human Brain in Space: Euphoria and the “Overview Effect” Experienced by Astronauts

[softy54534]

Cool Video

[Slonopotam845]

Dude, amazing video. I really would love to experience this "cognitive shift" the astronauts talked about. Honestly, that was beautiful.

[S.T.D.]

I don't know about others, but I often feel this way after looking up at the night sky. For some reason doing so makes my own problems seem so insignificant.

Of course there was one time I was out camping and did that and sorta freaked out as the sky was blended into the absolute darkness around me.

[Beerinkol]

I get it when looking at the night sky, and when looking down at the earth from a plane window. I don't like flying, in part because I spend the time pondering how tiny and insignificant we all are, how meaningless and petty most of our problems are, etc. It takes a while after landing to get myself back in the proper headspace to be able to go about my daily life.

[Ifroham4]

Einstein also remarked on this- "One feels as if one is dissolved, merged into Nature”.

Ed Mitchell saw it in the vastness of space, and Einstein saw it glimpsing into the minutiae of the inner workings of things on a much smaller scale....

[tgs]

I've often thought that religious leaders should be required to take advanced astro/particle physics courses.

[NeroASERCH]

Sounds like instead of going to the moon, he should've just found a potent batch of shrooms.

In all seriousness though, if more people had these types of realizations, then we'd be better off as a species.

I guess what I'm saying is... let's make all our politicians do hallucinogens. I'd pay to see a tape of Rand Paul on shrooms. Maybe even triple digits.

[brraverishhh]

"In this moment, I am euphoric. Not because of any phony god's blessing. But because, I am enlightened by my intelligence." - Ed "Proffessional quote maker" Mitchell

[9mm_fan]

I've often thought it would be really interesting for a museum to attempt to simulate this effect. You obviously couldn't tackle the weightlessness bit, but I'm imagining a sort of vessel you can climb into with intense sound proofing and a single porthole in front of an immense, insanely high resolution display.

For 5 minutes, you can sit there and listen to calm and comforting hum of your space vessel's systems while the heavens and the Earth pass you by.

I'd buy that for a dollar.

[Fegasderty]

You want to grab a politician by the scruff of the neck and drag him a quarter of a million miles out and

...leave them there.

[softy54534]

international politics is what got ed mitchell to the moon in the first place.

[Slonopotam845]

Without politics, there would have been very little reason to send him there. Like, ahem, today, when without politics the US sunk so low that they are now using Soviet-era Russian-operated Soyuz capsules launched with Soviet/Russian rockets. That's quite figuratively the only way to launch people up into space today. Kinda sobering, eh?

Without the politics, you got the corporations. They only want fast profits. You can complain all you wish about politicians, but at least they sorta pretend and occasionally support your interests. Corporations are by definition amoral. They don't give a fuck about you or anything else not related to profits. If they give a fuck, it's because they pretend to do so, so as to make more money. I am not anti-corporatist at all.

I am just being realistic - corporations do not have 'values' or 'morals'. They are institutions dedicated to making money, nothing else. If I wanted to make money, I would never think of shooting people up into the moon and back. That won't put bread on my table or gold plating on my limo. I would go for realistic stuff. And let's face it, there is a greedy little fucker inside all of us. Once I start making money, I don't think I can limit myself. I can most certainly see myself taking moral 'shortcuts'. If experiments prove that giving even the most petty little amount of power can turn regular people into dicks, I can definitely see money corrupt me.

So take your pic. You can hate politicians, you can hate corporations, you can hate both, or you can stop hating either/both and settle down. We need both to survive and advance as a human society. Politicians will always be corrupt, corporations will always be greedy. That is simply how it works, how they operate. It is impossible to have either without greed or corruption. Not that we shouldn't try to limit either, but it's just that sometimes the attitude of 'fuck all politicians/corporations' seems a tad counterproductive and juvenile.

A certain amount of greed and corruption can remain without us having to go apeshit over it. US ain't such a bad place to live at all, speaking as a Russian immigrant. And I am sure it had just as many if not more problems in the past, just as bad if not worse politicians, just as bad if not worse amount/intensity of people complaining and just as worse -- no, definitely worse partisan divisiveness (antebellum division of Congress, the US Civil War) that everyone pisses and moans about today. We should always strive for the best but we don't need to turn to extremist 'tear it all down and start it anew' approach that so many here on espouse.

[S.T.D.]

That's quite figuratively the only way to launch people up into space today. Kinda sobering, eh?

Do you mean quite literally?

[Slonopotam845]

Ooops, you are correct. I thought 'literally' was strict and 'figuratively' just meant loose and loosely speaking the US has other ways, just not ready at this exact moment. Welp, that's another English lesson I learned today