Ever since changing my monitor’s screensaver from a single color to an image of Earth, scenes like Earthrise have been filling the screen.
Earthrise is the name given to a photograph taken by William Anders with a Hasselblad camera loaded with 70mm color film from lunar orbit on December 24, 1968, during the Apollo 8 mission, the first manned lunar orbit.
The photo appeared on the first cover of Life magazine the following year and was later cited as “the most influential photograph of all time” in a special issue on “100 Photos that Changed the World.” The Earthrise truly emerged with the power of revelation.
At the time, Earthrise conveyed the beauty of Earth as seen from space to the world, and served as a catalyst for raising environmental and global awareness. Apollo 8 astronaut Frank Borman said he felt “everything is here,” and recognized the Earth as an irreplaceable entity. Apollo 14 astronaut Edgar Mitchell is said to have become deeply aware of the fundamental connection between Earth and the universe, leading him to immerse himself in spiritual exploration.
This experience would later be known as the Earthrise Effect, and astronauts have since unanimously said that it made them realize how insignificant the conflicts and animosities on Earth seem when viewed from space, and that it instilled in them a deep sense of unity and solidarity.
Furthermore, the mental and cognitive changes that occur when viewing the entire Earth from space are also known as the Overview Effect. The experience of viewing Earth as a single, integrated system and recognizing our deep connection to it is said to fundamentally change one’s personal self-perception, human activity, and understanding of the natural environment, resulting in self-transcendence and heightened social awareness.
Even today, Earthrise, which can be viewed at home without having to fly into space, can be deeply moving and can give us an opportunity to fundamentally reexamine the uniqueness of Earth as a small, shining blue planet floating in the pitch-black universe, and what it means to live here as our home.
In any case, it is said that looking down on the whole from above in this way elicits a variety of sensations that go beyond mere visual amazement and involve deep spiritual transformation, leading to a broader perspective on things.
1. Awareness of wholeness:
The overwhelming sight of a single, shining blue sphere floating in the vast, pitch-black space is a symbol of the Earth’s loneliness, and it powerfully impresses upon you the miraculous existence of the planet and the existence and relationships of all life on it, while also leading to the realization that we all share a common destiny.
2. Simultaneous awareness of smallness and greatness:
By comparing one’s own existence with the vastness of the universe, a psychological transformation occurs, making one realize how small one’s existence is and how insignificant events on Earth are, which leads to humility and the ability to see things from a broader perspective.
Furthermore, one’s sense of belonging to Earth is strengthened, fostering a sense of being part of the collective of all humanity that transcends individual identities, and a stronger sense of sharing a common homeland.
3. Concern for the natural environment:
Awareness of the thinness of the atmosphere and the finiteness of resources arouses a strong interest in environmental protection, strengthening one’s recognition of the Earth as a unified living organism and a stronger recognition that humanity is part of the Earth’s ecosystem and has a responsibility to protect it.
4. Sense of self-transcendence:
Self-transcendence is a stage beyond self-actualization, proposed as the highest stage in psychologist Abraham Maslow’s (1908–1970) hierarchy of needs model. It refers to a process of spiritual and ethical growth in which one transcends one’s own interests and limitations and places emphasis on greater purpose and connection.
Abandoning personal gain and ego and cultivating a sense of solidarity that transcends national borders and cultures, one is encouraged to develop a sense of oneness with nature and to take action to share the Earth, based on the recognition that the Earth does not belong to anyone but is a shared asset that must be protected by all who live on it.
Looking at planet Earth from the outside makes us realize its uniqueness and fragility, which can lead to phenomena that fundamentally shake our self-perception as individuals and our understanding of our existence as humanity. Therefore, this phenomenon, discovered as a by-product of the technological advances in space exploration, can be said to be one of the most significant achievements affecting the consciousness and spiritual realm of humanity.
Let’s list a few examples of how the Earth is miraculous, beyond the limits of human thought, and even divine.
* The relationship between the Earth and the Sun:
The Earth’s diameter is 13,000 km, and its distance from the Sun, which sustains all life on Earth, is 150 million km.
It is believed that there is an enormous range of temperatures in the universe, from temperatures as low as minus 273°C below absolute zero to temperatures with no upper limit, with the surface temperature of the Sun reaching 6,000°C and reaching 1,000 trillion°C during the Big Bang 15 billion years ago.
The Earth’s temperature is maintained roughly within a range of 100 degrees Celsius, from -50°C to 50°C, which is a tiny gap in the temperature range of the universe, allowing water to exist as water and plants and animals to survive. If the temperature were to deviate even slightly from this range, water would evaporate if it was too hot, or freeze if it was too cold. Also, the Earth’s temperature would become scorching if it was too close to the Sun, or freeze if it was too far. Therefore, the distance between the Earth and the Sun is just right.
* Earth’s gravity and size:
The Earth’s size is just right, neither too big nor too small. Earth’s gravity is maintained at just the right level for living things, neither too strong to crush them nor too weak to cause them to float.
Incidentally, the psychological phenomenon where, when given three options, most people tend to unconsciously choose the middle option is called the Goldilocks effect, named after the English fairy tale Goldilocks and the Three Bears. Because Earth’s gravity is just right, it’s sometimes referred to as the Goldilocks effect.
* The tilt of the Earth as it orbits the Sun:
As the Earth revolves around the Sun, the axis connecting the North Pole and South Pole is not at a right angle but tilted at 23.4 degrees. This tilt exquisitely averages out the temperature distribution on Earth, brings about the seasons, and causes ocean currents to move, expanding the area where life can occur.
Incidentally, if this tilt did not exist, areas near the equator would always be exposed to sunlight and become very hot, the North and South Poles would freeze over extremely, and ocean currents would flow in a fixed direction, simplifying the climate and greatly limiting the areas in which living things can live.
* The multiple barriers that protect living things on Earth:
1. The atmosphere – Frictional heat in the atmosphere burns meteorites that fall from space.
2. The ozone layer – Absorbs and filters ultraviolet rays that are harmful to living things.
3. The Van Allen belt – Absorbs and filters harmful radiation and cosmic rays.
Whether it is a miraculous creation or intentionally created, it is clear that the Earth exists as a result of the interplay of several phenomena that only have a probability of occurring one in hundreds of millions.
The “Blue Marble” is a term that symbolizes the Earth’s rarity, uniqueness, and how simultaneously beautiful and fragile it appears from space. It was given to a panoramic photograph of the planet taken by the crew of Apollo 17 in 1972.
The mental imagery and earth-awareness induced by this sense of fragile beauty have given rise to two major trends in the image of the Earth.
1. Spaceship Earth – This image, exemplified by Buckminster Fuller’s “Spaceship Earth Pilot’s Manual” (1968), focuses on the finite and scarce nature of Earth’s resources and emphasizes their sustainable use. It was Kenneth Boulding who incorporated the finiteness of the Earth into economics (The Economics of Spaceship Earth, 1966), and in this context, the Club of Rome’s The Limits to Growth (1972) sounded the alarm about the myth of growth based on a simulation of the world economy 100 years from that point.
2. Gaia hypothesis – This image of the Earth as the source of life, Mother Earth, and a living, individual organism. Gaia can be said to be a physical representation of the unique sense of life that one feels when looking at the Earth from space. Although the Earth is a complex system that includes the biosphere, atmosphere, oceans, soil, etc., it is also a living organism that interacts with other organisms and has created a self-regulating system to maintain an environment suitable for survival. (ref, James Lovelock)
In any case, it can be said that the Earthrise brought to humanity and its consciousness the perspective of viewing the entire Earth from far above, including the infinity of space, the overview effect, and the earth-awareness.
Incidentally, in “The Limits to Growth,” resources and food production only increase arithmetically, while population increases Malthusianally, so GDP per capita will inevitably begin to decline, and global society will collapse in the near future.
The simulation that led to this conclusion was based on actual global data from 1900 to 1970, and mapped out what changes could occur in the world up to 2100. In addition to a standard simulation in which no measures are taken to address the current situation, 14 scenarios were considered, including those in which efforts are made to discover resources, measures are added to promote resource-saving technologies, and measures are added to promote increased yields per land area. The result was that as long as GDP continues to grow exponentially, limits will emerge one after another, and it was concluded that it is impossible to find a scenario that can sustain growth until the end of the 21st century.
In response to this conclusion, the ruling class deployed increasingly hardline strategies of exploitation and control under the guise of countermeasures, which have continued to this day, including the creation of a strict surveillance society, population reduction, and the monopolization of vested interests.
In fact, in October 1973, the year after The Limits to Growth was published, the Fourth Arab-Israeli War broke out, causing widespread anxiety in society due to skyrocketing prices, paper shortages, and other issues, leading people around the world to feel the Club of Rome’s warnings keenly.
Without delay, the six OPEC oil-producing countries in the Persian Gulf announced that they would raise their official crude oil price from $3.01 to $5.12 per barrel, and then further to $11.65 from January of the following year. This fourfold increase in crude oil prices in just a few months triggered stagflation, a condition characterized by the coexistence of low growth, high unemployment (stagnation), and sustained price increases (inflation), in developed countries, and prompted crisis preparations such as mandatory stockpiling.
Furthermore, OPEC, which effectively held the power to set prices, once again raised crude oil prices in 1978. This, combined with production cuts following the Iranian Revolution, led to a second oil shock the following year.
However, developed countries continued their basic policy of expanding GDP through reliance on what Rockefeller called “fossil fuels,” and they did not move away from their dependence on oil. In other words, while “The Limits to Growth” appears to be based on the concept of protecting the Earth, in reality it has promoted economic growth through soaring prices and for the purpose of investing in deceptively so-called sustainable projects without regard for the destruction of the environment, so it could be said that it has simply been used by greedy money-grabbers.
In fact, since the oil crisis, as can be seen in the aftermath of the recent fabricated virus outbreak, crude oil prices have risen by taking advantage of social unrest, which has had an impact on commodity prices.
Let’s go back to the original topic of ovweview.
An “overview” is the image of looking down on an object from a high or wide vantage point to grasp the overall picture and structure, allowing one to grasp larger trends or relationships rather than the details. Not only visually, but also as a way of thinking, it refers to the mental movement of consciously distancing oneself and organizing the whole, and also includes nuances of objectivity and analysis.
In China, examples of the use of the “overview (俯瞰)” can be found in the historical text “Book of Han” and poetry and prose from the Six Dynasties period. The concept of the “overview” was introduced to Japan with the import of the Book of Han, and is most notably visualized in the “bird’s-eye view folding screens” painted between the Azuchi-Momoyama and early Edo periods, where artists created illustrations of the cityscapes of Kyoto and Edo from above.
Being able to see things from an overview perspective also means having the ability to grasp the essence of things.
In this world, humans tend to see things in terms of opposing concepts such as good and evil, discrimination and equality, life and death, but there is a perspective called imponderable (無記 – muki, acinteyya) that transcends such dualism and sees things from a higher dimension. In other words, if there is good and evil on the left and right, the imponderable perspective, which looks out over both sides from above in the center, broadens one’s field of vision, allowing one to grasp the big picture and may also function as a framework for controlling the mind.
This concept is known as the principle of the three essentialities (三性相克 or 三性の理). Good cannot cancel out evil, and the same is true vice versa. Therefore, it is said that by not mistaking or deluding oneself into thinking that clearly distinguishing between black and white is the ability to make judgments, by not being swayed by emotions, and by breaking away from the dualism of choosing between two things, by adopting an overview perspective and being able to control one’s mind unconsciously, one can reach a state of jinen (自然, nature).
In other words, within each person there is a self that takes a step back and observes itself, and it is said to have the ability to become aware of how one thinks, feels, and behaves. It is not uncommon for people to encounter a discrepancy between their actions and thoughts when they interact with the outside world without being able to see their inner self, but it is said that developing the ability to notice things from an overview perspective will lead to the ability to tackle things from the ground up.
Recently, the word “meta,” which has the meaning of transcendent or higher-level, has been frequently used in place of “overview perspective,” and it seems to refer to viewing a certain way of thinking, academic discipline, etc. from an external perspective.
* Metacognition:
The ability to objectively grasp one’s own cognitive process.
* Metathinking:
The ability to think about a problem from a higher-level perspective.
* Metaawareness:
The ability to objectively view one’s own thoughts and actions and understand them from a higher perspective.
The term metaverse has become commonly used to refer to virtual space, but in any case, there are several ways to step outside the framework in order to improve overview capabilities, such as:
1: Methodical Doubt:
Be skeptical of accepted wisdom and conventional methodologies, and look at things from a different angle, exploring other ways of thinking, methods, and meanings. Note that doubt here does not mean negation.
2: Objectifying the subject:
By transferring yourself, the subject, into the object, objectivity will be induced.
3: Perceive More Meaning:
Be open to the possibility of the existence and perception of meaning beyond what has been previously recognized.
In any case, things are not universally seen as they are as physical reality; rather, each individual adds their own meaning to them and views them as social reality. Therefore, as German philosopher Ernst Cassirer (1874-1945) pointed out, even in historical perspective, it is essential to “take a bird’s-eye view of the times rather than simply collecting facts, and, based on that overview, to ascertain the destiny of humanity and the laws that govern the spiritual-historical world.”
This may have given you an idea of what this blog is attempting to explore through as wide a range of historical phenomena and comparative cultural perspectives as possible.
The sustainability-driven tactics brought about by the Club of Rome’s “Limits to Growth” have led to the seizure of resources by vested interests, a constant shift to the latest technology that is profit-driven and destructive to nature, threatening ecosystems and increasing environmental pollution.
For example, solar panels contain highly toxic and harmful substances; silicon-based solar panels contain lead, while compound-based solar panels contain arsenic, selenium, cadmium, antimony, silver paste, and other substances.
* Lead:
Causes serious health problems such as convulsions and coma.
* Arsenic:
Causes symptoms such as fever, vomiting, and hair loss.
* Selenium:
Causes symptoms such as tremors, dizziness, hair loss, and gastrointestinal disorders.
* Cadmium:
Can be absorbed into the human body through agricultural crops and can cause kidney dysfunction. It is known to be the cause of Itai-itai disease.
* Antimony:
Can cause symptoms such as abdominal pain, diarrhea, and vomiting, and can be life-threatening.
* Silver:
Can cause skin pigmentation.
Meanwhile, it seems that the ancient belief that the five elements of earth (五大), water, fire, wind and space that permeate all things are the root of all phenomena in the universe, and that health and happiness are achieved by living in harmony and coexistence with them, has been neglected.
Each of the five elements is said to have its own unique meaning and role.
* Earth:
Solid matter, solidity, and stability.
e.g., skeleton, physical body, etc.
* Water:
Liquid, fluidity, and change.
e.g., blood, bodily fluids, etc.
* Fire:
Heat energy, transformation and growth.
e.g., body temperature, energy, etc.
* Wind:
Gas, movement, and change.
e.g., breathing, mental activity, etc.
* Air:
Void, space, infinity, and possibility.
e.g., consciousness, spirit, etc.
Maintaining balance and harmony among these five elements has long been considered essential.
* Excess earth can lead to stubbornness and rigidity.
e.g., fixed ideas, prejudices, and biases, etc.
* Excess water can lead to difficulty controlling emotions.
e.g., emotional ups and downs, the development of various addictions, etc.
* Excess fire can lead to impulsiveness and aggression.
e.g., increased likelihood of conflict and trouble, etc.
* Excess air can lead to instability and anxiety.
e.g., loss of mental stability and increased susceptibility to anxiety, fear, and despair, etc.
* Excess air can lead to apathy and indifference.
e.g., lack of motivation, depression, social withdrawal, etc.
For this reason, since the five elements of earth, water, fire, wind, and air are the foundation of the universe and the human body and mind, it is essential to balance them by working with the body, nervous system, and mind. Conversely, deeply feeling and understanding the five elements will bring us closer to the truth of the universe and the meaning of human existence, leading to a richer and deeper experience of everyday life.
In ancient Greece, the philosopher Empedocles also proposed the theory of the four elements, which states that the universe is made up of four fundamental elements: fire, earth, wind, and water, around the 5th century BC. Furthermore, these elements were believed to be united by philia (love) and separated by neikos (hatred). Later, Plato and Aristotle further developed this concept, stating that each element has its own weight and properties.
As time went on, the idea of the four elements also influenced Western astrology, and classifying the 12 zodiac signs by these four elements became an indicator for understanding the personality and behavioral patterns of each sign.
These four elements were also linked to the seasons, with the characteristics of each season being superimposed on them: spring is wind, summer is fire, autumn is earth, and winter is water. It has also influenced medicine, alchemy and magic. Furthermore, Jungian psychology sometimes utilizes the properties corresponding to the four elements as a single perspective.
* Fire: Symbolizes energy and change.
Aries, Leo, Sagittarius
Characteristics: Passion, intuition, drive, ambition, creativity, and spiritual energy.
* Earth: Symbolizes the stability and foundation of all material things.
Taurus, Virgo, Capricorn
Characteristics: Stability, realism, solidity, and material abundance.
* Air: Symbolizes the soul and life itself, and the power that influences the natural world.
Gemini, Libra, Aquarius
Characteristics: Intelligence, freedom, sociability, logical thinking, knowledge, and communication.
* Water: Symbolizes the element that sustains life, the fluctuations of emotions and the inner workings of the heart.
Cancer, Scorpio, Pisces
Characteristics: Sensitivity, empathy, imagination, and emotional depth.
In any case, the direct observation and sensory experience that underlie the concept of the four elements must have been the foundation for the development of modern natural science. However, as modern natural science has become more sophisticated and advanced, the emphasis has shifted to mathematical and abstract understanding, which may have contributed to the alienation or disregard of the intuitive persuasiveness of the theory of the four elements.
By intuitive persuasiveness, I mean that the four elements are natural phenomena that can be intuitively touched and seen, and when explaining matter, ancient Greek philosophers corresponded the properties of cold, heat, moisture, and dryness to the four elements. In medicine, Hippocrates also corresponded the four humors (blood, yellow bile, black bile, and phlegm) to the four elements, believing that an imbalance of fluids in the body caused illness, and that maintaining a balance of the four elements led to maintaining good health.
Understandings based on atomic theory and mathematical abstraction may be extremely abstract, minimalist, and highly precise, but they also led to nature being treated as something that could not be seen or touched, which in turn led to a loss of the intuitive persuasiveness of the four elements.
Taking advantage of this growing distance between humans and nature, those in power who seek to monopolize finance and resources and create a strict surveillance society position themselves as those who control and dominate nature, and under the guise of sustainability, implement technologies that lead to the destruction of nature.
In fact, as the view of nature changed, major conflicts arose both socially and internally within individuals from the Renaissance to the Enlightenment, and this is said to be closely related to the scientific revolution.
Particularly in Christian circles from the 17th to the 18th century, all phenomena in nature were believed to be based on God’s will or doctrine, and the theory of the four elements was also reconciled within a theological framework.
However, as the scientific revolution progressed, the emergence of the heliocentric theory and Newton’s laws regarding the motion of celestial bodies came into conflict with religious interpretations of the Bible and the teachings of the church, as seen in the persecution of Galileo Galilei’s heliocentric theory and the conflict between religion and science. In other words, scientific discoveries shook up religious worldviews, drawing society and people into a vortex of conflict between faith and science.
As an aside, the heliocentric theory was proposed by Copernicus in 1543, but the geocentric theory continued to be supported even after that. In 1610, the Italian astronomer Galileo discovered moons that moved around Jupiter’s surface, which led to the proof of the heliocentric theory and overturned the assumption that all celestial bodies revolve around the Earth.
Back to the topic.
Meanwhile, this sense of distance from nature has created a sense of estrangement from nature within ordinary people and in society, and as a reaction to this, poets and philosophers attempted to express this inner conflict in an attempt to rediscover this lost connection with nature, resulting in movements such as Romanticism, mainly in Europe from the late 18th century to the first half of the 19th century.
Nietzsche described a situation in which what people previously considered the highest value and aimed for becomes worthless as nihilism. Viewing nature as a mere resource, standardizing a technology-dependent lifestyle, and promoting the domination of nature have exacerbated environmental destruction, ecosystem collapse, and extreme climate change. This can be seen as the alienation of nature and humans brought about by technological advances. Meanwhile, as our connection with nature weakens, individuals’ ontological anxiety tends to grow.
The people of the Manyo period felt the changing of the seasons and the cycles of nature, cherished the feeling of living in harmony with nature, and shared this joy through waka poetry.
In order for the Earth, nature, and all living things, including human beings, to coexist in harmony as a trinity, it is essential for each individual to rediscover their connection with nature and consciously interact with it in their daily lives.
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