We should be ready to reach out beyond our planet and beyond our solar system to find out what is really going on out there.
We went to the Moon as technicians; we returned as humanitarians.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The experience of going to the Moon shifted the perspective of the astronauts from mere technicians to compassionate beings aware of their global responsibility.
Edgar Mitchell's quote highlights how the journey to the Moon transformed the astronauts from their role as mere technical operators to individuals who gained a deeper understanding of humanity and their place within it. This profound experience fostered a sense of responsibility towards the Earth and its inhabitants, invoking a broader perspective on what it means to be human amidst the vastness of space.
Themes
In practice
Example use cases
This quote can be used in a speech to emphasize the importance of perspective in scientific endeavors.
More from Edgar Mitchell
All quotes βWe need to make the world safe for creativity and intuition, for it's creativity and intuition that will make the world safe for us.
We're at a point in history were we have to become a part of the neighborhood of inhabited planets, like a neighborhood of a community, which we have not even acknowledged that that community exists up until this point.
You develop an instant global consciousness, a people orientation, an intense dissatisfaction with the state of the world, and a compulsion to do something about it. From out there on the moon, international politics looks so petty.
My view of our planet was a glimpse of divinity.
I experienced an ecstasy of unity. I not only saw the connectedness, I felt it and experienced it sentiently. The restraints and boundaries of flesh and bone fell away.
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Space exploration is a force of nature unto itself that no other force in society can rival.
I think the next century will be the century of complexity.
When a scientist is ahead of his times, it is often through misunderstanding of current, rather than intuition of future truth. In science there is never any error so gross that it won't one day, from some perspective, appear prophetic.
Q: What were you thinking when your colleagues were out there making cosmic history? A: I just kept reminding myself that every single component in this spacecraft was provided by the guy who submitted the cheapest tender.
It is seen that both matter and radiation possess a remarkable duality of character, as they sometimes exhibit the properties of waves, at other times those of particles. Now, it is obvious that a thing cannot be a form of wave motion and composed of particles at the same time - the two concepts are too different.
I hope I have helped to raise the profile of science and to show that physics is not a mystery but can be understood by ordinary people.