Overview Effects
Here's something to think about on Earth Day: Pluto.
All of American history is in one orbit of Pluto. The planet was discovered 80 years ago, a third of an orbit. From Pluto, the Earth seems to age rapidly, but is the same age cosmologically.
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Now we have the first fuzzy color image of Pluto and Charon--from fuzzy uncertainty to the anticipation of clarity in an overhead view.
The farther we get to the edge of the solar system, the more we can think about how relatively unsophisticated our technologies always are. (New Horizons' optical technology is already a decade old, but better than Hubble's)
The ability to see in new ways relies partly on recent technology. Going in the other direction, we'd be able to detect Earth from Pluto, but not necessarily see it as good as we can now see Pluto.
Finally seeing its surface will be another Overview Effect, like that of the Earth from the Moon. Caring about what seems to be nothing of any quotidian importance, leads to a more phenomenological awareness. It's good to go "far away" for an appreciation of those views.
All of American history is in one orbit of Pluto. The planet was discovered 80 years ago, a third of an orbit. From Pluto, the Earth seems to age rapidly, but is the same age cosmologically.
Now we have the first fuzzy color image of Pluto and Charon--from fuzzy uncertainty to the anticipation of clarity in an overhead view.
The farther we get to the edge of the solar system, the more we can think about how relatively unsophisticated our technologies always are. (New Horizons' optical technology is already a decade old, but better than Hubble's)
The ability to see in new ways relies partly on recent technology. Going in the other direction, we'd be able to detect Earth from Pluto, but not necessarily see it as good as we can now see Pluto.
Finally seeing its surface will be another Overview Effect, like that of the Earth from the Moon. Caring about what seems to be nothing of any quotidian importance, leads to a more phenomenological awareness. It's good to go "far away" for an appreciation of those views.
