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It is not about being able to "watch the stars"... it is more about experiencing and realising for a moment how tiny you are while beholding the cosmos. It is a

• seszett 12y ago
  I know that, right. But I have firsthand experience of the facts that: - being able to watch the stars won't automatically make people put things into perspective - watching the stars, while a good way to put things into perspective, isn't the only one Stars are not a fundamental element of human life experience, just a nice but dispensable thing. Even your Youtube link doesn't show anything a human can see, and just showing a random picture of a starfield wouldn't really have much effect on most people. Seeing plain stars only works if the people who watch them already have knowledge about them, basic understanding of the involved distances, etc. It is this knowledge that help you put things into perspective, not seeing the stars themselves.
  • ChuckMcM 12y ago
    I think the difference may be it isn't the effect on 'other people' it is the effect on 'you'. I find it is a lot like art in that way, some pieces really move people and other people can see the same piece and say 'meh'. The trick is to understand that while the art doesn't do anything for you, it really is doing something for them. Having raised kids and watched their interaction the "interesting" bit is that person A who is unmoved by exhibit E, imputes that person B is "making it up" when they express emotion about exhibit E. It isn't "made up" or imagined of course, but it takes a while for kids to realize that everyone's perception of the world around them is different, sometimes wildly so. Often that learning comes when they personally experience seeing meaning in something that someone else doesn't. Once you understand that everyone sees things a bit differently you can appreciate their sense of wonder even if you don't share it. I can't really agree on this point ... Seeing plain stars only works if the people who watch them already have knowledge about them, basic understanding of the involved distances, etc. It is this knowledge that help you put things into perspective, not seeing the stars themselves. There is ample evidence in early written accounts and from the writing of young people that without any knowledge at all about what stars "really are" they can be moved by seeing them.
  • pixl97 12y ago
    >Stars are not a fundamental element of human life experience, just a nice but dispensable thing I'd have to disagree. If the sky were a black blank slate except for the Sun (and possibly the moon to make life necessary) a great deal of our technical innovation would be significantly different. Seeing and looking at the movement of stars has had a significant impact on mathematics in the world, and the understanding of our own planet. Seeing the stars themselves (and their chemical composition) tells us a very large deal about the universe we live in.
  • joeyspn 12y ago
    > Stars are not a fundamental element of human life experience Well, I disagree... You're body is composed of matter that originated in the core of "a star", so you wouldn't be able to "experience" your life without this small detail. Another great quote by Carl Sagan is: "We are made of star stuff". And he's damn right. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2bm479V8qPs https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2bm479V8qPs
• beeworker 12y ago
  I rarely get that experience of being tiny -- just as the balancing look at the fundamental particles rarely gives me the experience of being gigantic. When I look, I see a great hand reaching into the stars, humanity's hand, humanity's future destiny. Maybe I'll be lucky enough to be there too. But hey, like, that's just my opinion, man. De gustibus non est disputandum.