What can Astronomy teach us about humility?
300,000 years ago when the first homo sapien set foot on the plains of Africa, little did it know that someday, it would bring the whole of planet Earth under its clutches. It did not know it would mass murder billions of animals for meat, it did not know it had the power to alter the climate and cause widespread destruction on a global scale.
We, humans have evolved to become the dominant species of a planet in such a little period when compared to the cosmic timeline. We are learning now that our actions have caused huge environmental changes and we are pushing to further our development as a dominant species by embracing space travel.
But, should we take a step back from all this and just pause for a moment a think about our place in the universe to appreciate what we have and how privileged our existence is, not because we humans are any more special than other animals but because we can experience the universe itself and make sense of it.
We are the universe experiencing itself — Carl Sagan
Let us take a moment and look at the starry night sky
In all this fiasco of running around, working multiple jobs, planning career jumps, worrying about our loved ones and always feeling tired at the end of the day with nowhere to go but, straight to more cognitive load inducing computers, smartphones, and other gadgets, we exist. In a way, we are complicating our existence not because we want to but because we feel that we need to.
Even though it was proven back in the 16th century that we are not the center of the universe; from a philosophical standpoint, we are still under the illusion of importance. We imagine ourselves to be the center of the universe and due to this, we must take a break from time to time to rethink of our role in the cosmic scale. But, how do we do this?
I’m not advocating that you go and order different astronomical equipment straight from amazon or build a rocket. What I’m saying is, let us take a few minutes of our everyday life and observe the night sky with our friends and family. Our biological imperative naturally makes us connect to the night sky because we are observing something that we are a small part of. It is programmed in our DNA and it has been with us since ancestral times. Historically, even with our recent accomplishments in space science, this is the generation of humans which is the least bit bothered about the philosophical implications of outer space. Also, many of us have been conditioned from childhood to think light of these affinities and to go on with our busy and hectic life.
What happens when we do this?
As you spend a few minutes every day looking and interpreting the night sky, something changes your mindset. You see the world not how you want to but for what it is. You cherish the time you have with your loved ones and you know that the small blip; which you are in the cosmic timeline is all about being humble and caring for one another. You take most of the problems that you have in your life as slightly less demanding and you appreciate the beauty of existence. You know that nothing is going to matter in the grand scale of cosmos and it might make you depressed at first; but, you will learn to get past it and appreciate life. You learn the ultimate form of humility. In the below image, which shows the universe from the big bang (January) to the present (December) in the form of cosmic calendar. As Humans, our existence is a blip in the timescale of 10:30PM to 12:00AM on 31st of December. That’s how important we have been in a cosmic scale.
You look at some stars every day and you begin to learn what their names are, their etymologies and how our ancestors worshipped them. After all, In case of most of the visible stars, the light which you see when you observe the night sky, began its journey when you and I were roaming the plains of Africa or when the first bacteria evolved its photoreceptors. Poetically, you are looking at the past.
Why Astronomy?
You might be wondering now, why astronomy specifically? why not philosophy or climate science? The answer is because Astronomy, apart from the fancy observational equipment and algorithms; for the common people like us, is all about curiosity and helps to cultivate a sense of wonder for the universe as well as it is incredibly easy to get into even if you are a small child. As children, we used to be so inquisitive of the world around us. We look at different objects around us and question everything. But as we grow up, we lose sense of this magical curiosity that filled our minds. We become complacent and a bit self-centered about the things we know. It is very hard for us to retain humility and inquisitive nature once we venture out into the real world as adults.
Astronomy helps us find the balance right back into our lives. We are once again filled with the sense of the unknown but they are just there waiting for us to experience them. We can rekindle our imagination into what might exist beyond the end of the observable universe, we can theorize about the lifecycle of the sun, we can study and observe unique astronomical events such as eclipses, meteors, comets. We can indulge in astrophotography with our friends on a camping trip. We will finally realize that there is more to life than just mundane activities and we will appreciate our time on Earth. We will be thankful and fill ourselves with humility.
Overview effect: While viewing earth from space, many astronauts feel extremely humble because they realize that everyone they ever knew and loved exist on that rock we call Earth.
Our precious kids,
Every child who is born into our world is filled with questions that most of us parents, have never have time to address. They go about their lives oblivious to the exquisite cosmic ideas and phenomenons which occur in outer space. The sheer number of stars in the observable universe is enough to hook their minds because we cannot manage to even wrap our heads around such complex topics at that age.
Astronomy and stargazing, when taught in schools they help children develop critical thinking and make them ask questions. They grow up humbled because they are more prone to change their perspectives of the world around them. By teaching them to stargaze and develop an interest in science from a very early age, we are teaching them the complexities of life in a simple and easy to understand manner. We are also teaching them how important as future generations, they have to protect the environment. As a parent, all you need to do is, sit with them and let them stargaze and make them understand what exists out there. Their imagination will fill all the rest of the blanks and you will find yourself bombarded with questions every day. This makes them more open minded and an honest and humble person to be around with during their adolescence and adulthood. This can serve as a huge healthy mindset shift from a very early age if done right and quite frankly with the levels of depression in recent times, this would definitely factor in as good improvement.
Conclusion
This is by no means, an end to solve all psychological problems of a person; but, developing this fascination for the universe from a very early age will make us appreciate what we have even more and to protect and cherish the friends and family we have. After all, It was Carl Sagan, the astrophysicist who said that,
We’re made of star stuff. We are a way for the cosmos to know itself
