metonymy4u

The short movie “The Overview Effect” has had a profound impact on many viewers. I suspect it is because like the astronauts who gaze in awe back at the earth, we too are deeply moved by the data of our senses. Our senses that for the first time see the lights of major cities echoed in the myriad thunderstorms spread out over a continental massif– nature’s lights and humanity’s lights brought together over staggering distances. Connections made that could not be previously visualized. Our community re-described on a planetary, or galactic, continuum. When you see connections on this scale, with your own eyes—how can anything ever be the same again?