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| Edgar Dean Mitchell (an Overviewer) |
after glimpsing the Earth from the heavens. Some of the 500 or so people who have thus far journeyed through space utilize this quote from Socrates to help describe their experience: Humanity must rise above the earth, to the top of the atmosphere and beyond.
For only then will we understand the world in which we live.
This new type of understanding is now being called the “Overview
Effect” - a term coined by Frank White, whose book, The Overview Effect: Space Exploration and Human Evolution, was first published in 1987. This effect “refers to the experience of seeing firsthand the reality of the Earth in space” – from which perspective “national boundaries vanish, the conflicts that divide us become less important and the need to create a planetary society with the united will to protect this ‘pale blue dot’ becomes both obvious and imperative.”
The Overview Effect is therefore not an intellectual exercise, but
rather a raising of consciousness that is powerful enough to create
a direct awareness of cosmic interdependence. White calls it “a
message from the universe to humanity” – and adds that those who have heard it “must now become Overviewers… and manifest its implications in our own lives.”
Short of booking a Virgin Galactic flight (or attaining nirvana, whichever comes first), how can everyday folks zap into this borderless state of cosmic consciousness? The answer lies right in front of a multitude of computer-glazed eyeballs – it’s the Internet that will provide glimpses of what Earth looks like through high-speed galactic Windows.
MSNBC’s Photoblog presents a 2011 Holiday calendar: Peace over Earth in order to provide ordinary earthlings with such glimpses. Included in these offerings are Santa’s flight path, the Solstice tilt, Hanukkah above Jerusalem, Santa Lucia above Sicily, a psychedelic storm, a lunar eclipse, and the Hajj masses in Mecca.
There now – is all the holiday stress shrinking into a blip on the cosmic screen? If so – you, too, may soon be an Overviewer…
Resources
http://photoblog.msnbc.msn.com/2011-holiday-calendar
http://www.overviewinstitute.org/declaration.htm
http://www.virgingalactic.com/
Copyright December 29, 2011 by Linda Van Slyke All Rights Reserved
Linda,
ReplyDeleteThanks for doing this. It's a very nice job, and I'm glad you linked to our declaration. Also, we are using the term "Overviewer" at the Overview Institute. I think it is a good description for those who experience the shift we are describing.
Happy New Year,
Frank White
Author, The Overview Effect, Co-founder, The Overview Institute
Frank,
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for this response. Sometimes blogging feels like SETI signaling - I often
wonder who might be out there on the receiving end... It's great to know that there really is life here on Planet Earth!
Thank you, too, for all your great pioneering work.
Here's to 2012 and beyond -
Linda Van Slyke