We went to the Moon as technicians; we returned as humanitarians.
Edgar MitchellRead
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.
Interpretation
The quote emphasizes the need for humanity to recognize our place in a larger cosmic community.
Edgar Mitchell's quote highlights the crucial moment in human history where we must acknowledge our connection to other inhabited planets. It suggests that just as a community must recognize its neighbors, humanity must expand its perspective beyond Earth and accept that we are part of a broader universe filled with potential life, fostering a sense of unity and responsibility towards this expanded community.
In practice
Using this quote during a panel discussion on space exploration and humanity's future.
We went to the Moon as technicians; we returned as humanitarians.
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 need to make the world safe for creativity and intuition, for it's creativity and intuition that will make the world safe for us.
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.
While NASA talks about 'Are we alone?' as a number one question, they are putting zero money into searching for intelligent life. There's a big disconnect there.
Research is formalized curiosity. It is poking and prying with a purpose.
At the extremes it is difficult to distinguish pseudoscience from rigid, doctrinaire religion.
Equipped with his five senses, man explores the universe around him and calls the adventure Science.
As scientists, we step on the shoulders of science, building on the work that has come before us - aiming to inspire a new generation of young scientists to continue once we are gone.
All of my life, I have been fascinated by the big questions that face us, and have tried to find scientific answers to them. If, like me, you have looked at the stars, and tried to make sense of what you see, you too have started to wonder what makes the universe exist.
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