The Overview Effect

Excerpt from the 2019 Cultural Considerations Working Group White Paper

Background

More than 30 years ago, Frank White used the term “Overview Effect” to describe the new awareness that is born in the psyche after viewing the Earth from orbit or from the Moon.  White found that this experience profoundly affects astronauts’ perceptions of themselves, of Earth, and of the future.  Fundamentally, the Overview Effect is “seeing the Earth as a whole system without borders or boundaries.” 

For example:

• Chris Hadfield revealed that his realization came when he wrote “There are six million of us living in Pakistan.”  He didn’t write, there are six million people living in Pakistan, he wrote, of us. 
  
  
• Nicole Stott described her moment in this way: “Finally, we were flying over Florida. I wanted to fly to the window and see it, and then realized somewhere down the line that I wasn’t looking at Florida that same way anymore. I still wanted to see Florida, but Florida had just become this special part of home, which is Earth. I don’t know when that happened. Was that two days after I got there? I mean, it wasn’t like one day I woke up and was like, ‘Oh yeah, Earth’s my home.’”
  
  
• Perhaps Michael Collins captured it best when he explained: “The Earth must become as it appears; blue and white, not capitalist or communist; blue and white, not rich or poor; blue and white, not envious or envied.”

Human expansion into space will greatly increase the number of individuals who are able to experience or witness the Overview Effect, which will produce incalculable cultural benefits on Earth, not the least of which is a stronger impetus for peace.  At the least, permanent human presence on the Moon will serve as a reminder that we are all more alike than we are different.

Interestingly, White’s original concept of the Overview Effect focused on people who lived permanently off of the home planet, settlers who would always see the Earth as a whole system, without borders or boundaries. Lacking space settlers to confirm his hypothesis, he turned to astronauts as proxies.

A human presence on the Moon will offer an opportunity to test the hypothesis more accurately. In addition, it literally removes the boundaries of our horizons.  But that is just the beginning.

Next Step

A sub-Working Group will be formed to research the possibility of sending a camera to the Moon that can provide a real-time Overview Effect experience.