Deep Thoughts part I
There was something written in my girlfriend’s astronomy textbook that didn’t strike me as being very profound when I first heard it, but has since been floating back up into my conscious thoughts. “There is no place in the universe that is any more important or significant than another place - there are no special places in the universe.” I believe I’m paraphrasing, of course, but the point is the same.
I think that the authors of that text were definitely on to something. Let’s do a very simple exercise to help illustrate their point. First, you’ll need to open Google Earth. If you don’t have Google Earth, I cannot recommend it highly enough. It’s free, and it is AMAZING. Not just AMAZING, but BRIAN BOSLEY AMAZING.
Second, find your house. This shouldn’t be too difficult to accomplish - if you type in your address all on one line, Google Earth will probably set you down within a mile of your actual location. It’s a little off - when I type in my own address of 12221 Spring Shadow Court Maryland Heights MO it puts me as two doors down on the other side of the street, but that’s just being nit-picky.
Now - you’ve found your house. Unless you’re like my girlfriend and live in the middle of Illinois or far enough away from an urban center that the aerial photo planes don’t take notice of you, you ought to see things pretty clearly. Otherwise you might be looking at satellite photography in which case your home will probably appear as a whitish glob against a greenish background. If this is the case, I suggest moving closer to a more populous region, or just living with the fact that all others will see your home as a pixel.
Go ahead - take a look around. Try and recognize your old stomping grounds from above. Bring back any memories? Of course they do. Have you moved at some point in your childhood? Look up your old addresses.
Now that you’ve finished reminiscing, I’d like for you to play a little game of ‘spin the globe.’ Well, not really - just try zooming out a ways, clicking on the earth image, and dragging it so that you are now at least a few hundred miles or so from where we started. Stop. Now, find the nearest sizable town.
Zoom in on one house in this town. Somebody lives there - or at least did at one time. That person had a mother and a father, and maybe even had kids. That house looks pretty similar to yours, doesn’t it?
Zoom out a bit. What do you see? It looks pretty similar, doesn’t it? And, for maybe a few hundred people, what you’re looking at right now will have the same memory-jogging and nostalgic effect that looking at your home town had for you - because this is their home town.
Now, zoom out a bit more. Observe the other towns and cities. Pretty similar. Observe the state. Pretty similar to the others. Observe the country. Pretty similar to the others. Observe the planet.
Ah, here’s where it gets a little tricky. “But Earth is the only planet in our solar system with life,” you say! Sure it is. But what about all of the other billions of solar systems out there that we haven’t yet been able to get close enough to really see. What if they have life on them, and what if it’s pretty similar to us?
What makes you any different from the BILLIONS of others?
You determine the answer to that question each and every day of your life.
I think that the authors of that text were definitely on to something. Let’s do a very simple exercise to help illustrate their point. First, you’ll need to open Google Earth. If you don’t have Google Earth, I cannot recommend it highly enough. It’s free, and it is AMAZING. Not just AMAZING, but BRIAN BOSLEY AMAZING.
Second, find your house. This shouldn’t be too difficult to accomplish - if you type in your address all on one line, Google Earth will probably set you down within a mile of your actual location. It’s a little off - when I type in my own address of 12221 Spring Shadow Court Maryland Heights MO it puts me as two doors down on the other side of the street, but that’s just being nit-picky.
Now - you’ve found your house. Unless you’re like my girlfriend and live in the middle of Illinois or far enough away from an urban center that the aerial photo planes don’t take notice of you, you ought to see things pretty clearly. Otherwise you might be looking at satellite photography in which case your home will probably appear as a whitish glob against a greenish background. If this is the case, I suggest moving closer to a more populous region, or just living with the fact that all others will see your home as a pixel.
Go ahead - take a look around. Try and recognize your old stomping grounds from above. Bring back any memories? Of course they do. Have you moved at some point in your childhood? Look up your old addresses.
Now that you’ve finished reminiscing, I’d like for you to play a little game of ‘spin the globe.’ Well, not really - just try zooming out a ways, clicking on the earth image, and dragging it so that you are now at least a few hundred miles or so from where we started. Stop. Now, find the nearest sizable town.
Zoom in on one house in this town. Somebody lives there - or at least did at one time. That person had a mother and a father, and maybe even had kids. That house looks pretty similar to yours, doesn’t it?
Zoom out a bit. What do you see? It looks pretty similar, doesn’t it? And, for maybe a few hundred people, what you’re looking at right now will have the same memory-jogging and nostalgic effect that looking at your home town had for you - because this is their home town.
Now, zoom out a bit more. Observe the other towns and cities. Pretty similar. Observe the state. Pretty similar to the others. Observe the country. Pretty similar to the others. Observe the planet.
Ah, here’s where it gets a little tricky. “But Earth is the only planet in our solar system with life,” you say! Sure it is. But what about all of the other billions of solar systems out there that we haven’t yet been able to get close enough to really see. What if they have life on them, and what if it’s pretty similar to us?
What makes you any different from the BILLIONS of others?
You determine the answer to that question each and every day of your life.