We all do this, naturally.īut I think that the more you see, the more you have to compare ‘against’, which then permanently alters your views of the planet and of its people. While far less vivid or spectacular than a space trip, travel does tend to push people to think about the forest through the trees and to constantly pin current observations against past experiences. Or, as I said to someone recently “once you’re a pickle you can’t go back to being a cucumber.” You’ve stepped away and looked at the planet in a different light. That you cannot ignore the happenings in other places, or stick your head in the sand. I have heard travellers describe their own wanderings in a similar way. And that there is a certain unity and coherence to it all. And I immediately called it the ‘Overview Effect’.” That the Earth is one system, and we’re all part of that system.
They would see things that we know, but we don’t experience. And as I was looking down at the planet, the thought came to me: anyone living in a space settlement, or living on the moon, would always have an overview. “I was flying cross-country, from the East coast to the West coast in the 1970s, and I was looking out the window. ‘Overview’ is a short film that explores this phenomenon through interviews with five astronauts who have experienced the Overview Effect.”įrom the film’s transcript, graciously provided by Victoria and Steve, space philosopher Frank White speaks about how he coined the term “the Overview Effect”: “Astronauts who have seen the Earth from space have often described the ‘overview effect’ as an experience that has transformed their perspective of the planet and mankind’s place upon it, and enabled them to perceive it as our shared home, without boundaries between nations or species. The Planetary Collective describes its short film, Overview, thusly: I have no photos of Earth from space, but seeing the moon from Earth was alone pretty incredible. Moon over San Pedro de Atacama, my camera squished up against the eye of a telescope. It’s both a state of gratitude for the privilege and work of building out an unconventional life, and a state of openness that comes with learning from and appreciating the connection to people and planet. The point was to reiterate that the most important benefit to travel for me has been the consistent reminder that we are all connected in one way or another, and we are all more alike than we think. When I posted about how you don’t need to get off the beaten path to connect with others, or about the long travel days that lead to serendipity and friendship, the point wasn’t to say “hey I have fantastic travel stories and am having fun – look at meee!” It reflected what I’ve written here, albeit on a much lesser, much less intense scale. Over and above the sheer beauty of the film and its message, listening to what these astronauts say and how they talk about a world of connectedness resonated.