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Comment by noonespecial | Hacker News Reader

I don't even bother arguing these points anymore. I've started just saying "pale blue dot" to people (and to myself) whenever stuff like this comes up.

Try it, its fun. The next time someone complains about the rich being too rich, or the unfairness of 'the system' just shrug and mutter "meh, pale blue dot". The quizzical looks will make you feel better.

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For anyone else feeling quizzical, Pale Blue Dot is the name of a photograph of earth taken by voyager in which the earth is nothing but a pale blue dot.

And to save everyone else the time, here is the picture on wikipedia

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Pale_Blue_Dot.png

It looks like lens dust 1/2 down the right side of the picture.

I'd never seen this picture before, so thank you. I'd imagined it differently before viewing. Seems more like a pale blue speck.

Why should bigness connote worth?

Well, I think what Carl Sagan was getting at was that, while indeed all our problems and strife are virtually zero in comparison to the awe and majesty of the universe that surrounds us, since this pale blue dot is all we have, we should strive to improve our lot as much as we possibly can. So you really couldn't have missed the point more than you did. I'm not sure those quizzical looks mean what you think.

Oh yeah, the Sagan thing. I was thinking more about the Voyager picture. Insignificance and all. Being the richest person on that speck of dust in the corner there doesn't seem like such a mighty accomplishment after all.

I like it better than my previous use of, "quid ad aeternum". Whatever. Something tells me its not that important either way...

Ah, okay. Sorry about that :-)

Do you think that there are other portions of the universe capable of comprehending itself? Other than this pale blue dot, do you think there are parts of the universe that manage a reasonable projection of its entirety into a small low energy volume?

Oh yeah, the Sagan thing. I was thinking more about the Voyager picture.

I'm not sure if you're aware of this, but Sagan requested that Voyager turn and take the picture as it exited the solar system, which is the reason we have it. I'd say his 1994 book and the original photo are pretty well intertwined.

His conclusion went a step further than yours: since we're insignificant, we must take care of each other and the planet, because we're all we have.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pale_Blue_Dot#Reflections_by_Sa...

Whereas stopping with just "we're insignificant, so who cares" is apathy, the most destructive force.

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