- Earth, also known as the world... is the third planet from the Sun, the densest planet in the Solar System, the largest of the Solar System's four terrestrial planets, and the only celestial body known to accommodate life. It is home to about 8.74 million species.
There are billions of humans who depend upon its biosphere and minerals. The Earth's human population is divided among about two hundred independent states that interact through diplomacy, conflict, travel, trade, and media.
I know she's your world and he means the world to you, but what kind of value is that, really? What does the world actually mean to you? What do you think of your place on Earth, in the Milky Way, on the couch?
Does it matter? Are you lucky to be here, or are you dying to leave? Is Earth dying? Are we doing right for the world? How much do we, as humans, mean to the world? And what does the world mean to you?
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An object in motion tends to stay in motion. An object at rest tends to stay at rest. We are hurtling through space at 67,000 miles an hour, four times faster than cracks propagate through glass. And that's only as referenced to the sun. We trace an intricate path through the universe, complimentary ellipses locked in a tidal struggle that we don't even acknowledge. But I think everybody should. At least once. Wait for a sunny day, preferably with some fluffy clouds blowing by high overhead. Find a nice, wide field with few obstructions around it. Ideally, it has tall grass. Lie down in it. Spread out your arms. Take off your shoes if you feel like it. Now look up. Above you are tall mountains of water vapor. they tower into the stratosphere miles above you. But listen: gravity is an attractive force. It sucks you in much like a magnet. You do not have a giant force pressing you down - that presumes the force is above you. It isn't. or is it? From a physics standpoint, we experience the world upside down. We don't walk with our feet below us gravity pushes down, we walk with our feet above us, with the ground preventing us from being sucked into the center of the earth. And it is only that gravity that keeps us from flying off into the void at 67,000 miles an hour. Because the void is the norm. The void is prevalent. The void is what will win in the end. You aren't lying down looking up, you are being sucked back from the void by the greedy greedy earth as miles below you billowing clouds roil and beyond that, the infinite plummet. You are held up at the very top of the world, forever upside down like a spider, by a force we barely understand. You are kept from spiraling down into the Deep Empty only by the jealous grip of dust assembled so gigantic that it clutches at you with an acceleration of 29 feet per second per second. The force of a pull-up keeps you sucked to the roof of the world and if it didn't, you would fall forever. For me, at least, experiencing the world "right side up" clarified a lot. It made me understand just how much this planet wanted to keep me here. It made me understand the sheer magnitude of physics so mundane to me that I had to will myself to see it. And it made me recognize that perspective is such a powerful thing that I could give myself vertigo while lying flat in a field of grass. So long as we're talking about Earth, I mean. My place in society? different matter. But I am held dangling from an infinite precipice 24/7/365 and that relationship isn't going to go away any time soon. Best make the most of it because the alternative is terrifying.
Man, this question can be answered in a lot of different ways, but I guess that's why they are vague. Here's my take on it, filled with generalities and predicated on a conversation I had yesterday. I think that to a lot of the people who live in this picture, the rest of the earth doesn't really matter. Some of the younger people have never lived anywhere else, and don't plan to, or don't want to. Others dedicated their lives toward getting there. The geography in this picture is in some way attached to their existence. This is their paradise and it doesn't get any better. But when I took this picture yesterday, I kept trying to imagine would how much better it would be if it weren't populated. I've heard a lot of people describe themselves as either a beach person or a mountain person. Only weird people, cult members, and serial killers are attracted to the desert. I don't know if there's some kind of geographic aesthetic that creates a programmed, intrinsic response in us, but it sure seems like it. Maybe it has to do with an ancient lineage; my dominant ancestry comes from the Italian side of the Alps, and I would say I'm more of a mountain person. But I've also met people who live in shitty areas, and don't feel one way or another about it. I've even met people who have spent their entire lives in those areas without entertaining the idea of leaving. I think the overarching quality here is a feeling of home rather than a lack of appreciation for whatever natural beauty makes the pit of their stomach feel weird. I think people who have an idyllic version of home are strange, but I understand that certain places in the world can invoke a feeling of completeness and that those places differ between everyone for reasons we probably can't comprehend. As for myself, I don't know what the world means to me. Sometimes I think that there are pieces of myself scattered around in it, and that I should abandon everything to search for them.
In 1990, as the Voyager space craft was leaving our solar system, Carl Sagan asked that the probe take a picture of the planet that it left behind. You can find all of us in the middle of the brown band on the far right. That was 24 years ago. Carl Sagan has since died. How old will you be in 24 years? In 48 years? In 72 years? In 96 years? In 96 years it is likely that everyone reading this comment will be dead. The Earth is not mine. I am the Earth's. The kind of value that the Earth gives me, is that we are all siblings.I know she's your world and he means the world to you, but what kind of value is that, really?
How much do we, as humans, mean to the world?
-In his way, George Carlin answers this question:
This shows a different perspective... I was was discussing with my aunt about why she stopped taking medication (specifically her pill). She has been on a "everything synthetic is bad because its unnatural"-trip lately. A substance "X" extracted and purified from a plant is not the same as substance "X" synthetically produced. Because one is "natural" and the other isn't. And apparently the body recognizes this difference and therefore reacts positively to substance "X" that was extracted from plants while not reacting or showing bad results with the synthetic compound. I tried to explain to her that its the same substance. 1:1, no chemical difference. She then argued that chemical synthesis is unnatural and all those methods created by humans to produce those substances are "unnatural". And then I wondered. Aren't humans natural? We came from nature. We are part of nature, our bodies, minds, ideas, actions all a result of nature. So the methods we use to make things are also natural, making chemical synthesis natural. Why do we see ourselves as some alien tribe that was put on earth to destroy it? As if we are not part of it. But we actually are. And we are just some tiny chapter in the story of earth.
My place on Earth? I wouldn't say that I really have one yet. I'm kinda in a limbo when it comes to life in general, I go to college but have no real home to go to during the breaks ( I move around a lot). It's probably going to take some time to find out my place, but there's nothing bad about that. Better to spend a long time to find a good place rather than finding a place in a short time period and to later realize its nothing that you wanted. I think in general I'm lucky to be here but there has been moments where I just couldn't wait for my passing to come by, but these thoughts don't linger for long. The world means a place to explore and admire both physically and the people that are occupying it. There's just so much history, music, art, and reading to be done that I hold the world very close to me, at least that's what I think
There's so much history, music, art, and reading to be done... Will you ever have a significant place then? Maybe, it's up to you to make the new history and music and art!
Maybe! for both questions. My definition of having a significant place is how my current situation is (living standards, social status etc). Maybe once I've fully furnished my life I would reach a significant place but nothing can be certain now. Maybe it is up to me to make the new history and so on but right now I'm happy to be reading all about it
To me, the Earth will be the only place where I existed. The earth is home and it's the only place that gave me a chance to live and tell my story.