Over the Christmas period, I showed this short film made by the Planetary Collective called the Overview Effect to my family. The programme features interviews with five astronauts and includes commentary from philosophers and thinkers. The film is about the effect seeing our planet from space had upon the astronauts, and how their view of our planet changed as a result.
It had had quite a profound effect upon me, and subsequently my daughter. I showed her the film because I had made a remark to the effect that we exist upon/within a spaceship, and she wanted me to explain. Showing her this film was the best way to do so. After we watched the film we discussed what we had seen, and the ramifications of what we had learned. We discussed our ‘use’ of the planet and I made the point that as a species we view resources and consumables as something that can always be replenished and replaced when used up, and that in effect we ‘use’ our planet as if we have a ‘spare’, which we don’t. This made quite an impression upon her. I wish it did so upon everyone.