Excerpt from the 2019 Cultural Considerations Working Group White Paper
As we have seen, the evolution of planet Earth and life are inextricably linked to our Moon. Our biosphere and our species evolved as our Moon orbited our planet. Recurring geological phenomena, tidal and seasonal patterns and biorhythms are all subject to or have been attributed to lunar orbital motions.
But we need to understand that space is not “out there.” It is us. We are a part of the Cosmos even as we simply exist here on Earth. We need to move away from the concept of “outer space” and embrace the concept of the Cosmos that is all around us and that is, in fact, us.
“Espace” in French, “space” in English, "spazio" in Italian (or “weltraum” in German etymologically close to room in English) all come from the Latin word spatium, most probably derived from the verb patēre, “being open.” Most of our modern culture consider it an empty volumetric space, absolute, euclidean, fully described by mathematical Cartesian coordinates. However, the Russian language distinguishes between volumetric Euclidean space (prostranstvo) and cosmic space (kosmos).
What’s the difference? Nature is only governed by mathematical laws. Humans typically describe themselves and their environments through mathematics, such as a falling stone. And when we dare study nature, we must distance ourselves from it, we must consider ourselves as being outside of it in order to build an “objective knowledge.” It is this objectivity and distance that currently underscores our view of ourselves in space.
However, the cosmos is not accessible to objective knowledge, it is only accessible to the feeling of living beings. And feelings dictate that we are not on the outside looking into space. We are a part of the universe. A part of space.
It is difficult to embrace this concept because we are on Earth and so never see Earth when we look into the Cosmos. But astronauts express this view all the time:
It’s a realization all of the astronauts have, which is that we are a member of the whole human family. It goes beyond even being a citizen of the Earth; you are really a citizen of the universe. When you are in orbit, you ask yourself, “Why do people have the differences they have down on Earth?” you see that the Earth is just a small part of a large universe, and you have a feeling about it that is hard to describe.
-- Al Sacco, Jr. (in The Overview Effect: Space Exploration and Human Evolution)
Mae Jamison expressed it this way: “Because I felt that connected. For me, it wasn’t a connection back down to Earth. It was a connection with the rest of the universe. For me, it was about outward versus inward.”
In short, we are not returning to the Moon, we are implementing a natural evolution – one borne in the spiritual recognition of the Moon by our ancestors and built upon through the centuries as we developed the technology to turn the mystery into our future.
Migrating to the Moon is a natural evolution as humanity expands the spheres of civilization around the Earth from the surface to orbit, from orbit to the Moon and beyond.
In short, the Moon Village is the next step in the evolution of our spiritual relationship as part of the Cosmos. We were inspired by the Moon through many centuries. Now we can move beyond the Moon to understand our role within, not outside, the Cosmos.
A sub-Working Group will consider how humans can assure that they are responsible Solar System contributors.
Cultural Considerations Working Group ©2021 Moon Village Association