Overview effect refers to the cognitive shift in awareness and sense of awe experienced by astronauts who observe Earth from space. The term also inspired the title of Benjamin Grant’s new book, Overview: A New Perspective of Earth, a collection of spectacular images culled from satellite photographs. This is part of a complete episode.
Transcript of “Overview Effect”
Do you know the term overview effect?
No, I don’t think I do. Business?
No, it’s bigger than that. It’s more cosmic than that.
Philosophy.
Yes, it’s part of philosophy.
It’s the cognitive shift in awareness that astronauts experience when they go out into space and they look at the Earth and see the Earth as a whole.
It was coined in 1987 by a science writer named Frank White.
And it’s gotten some traction.
But the reason I bring it up is because there is a gorgeous new book out called Overview.
It’s by Benjamin Grant.
And what he does in the book is stitch together numerous high-resolution satellite photographs of Earth, just like zeroing in on crop circles or features of geography that are just gorgeous.
I mean, it’s a beautiful artistically presented book of satellite photographs that will change the way you look at the Earth and how we’re all connected.
That sounds really nice.
It’s beautiful.
And so the overview effect is that feeling of what that we’re all together in this lifeboat called Earth, or is the feeling of like your small problems don’t matter against this, the big sky, the big universe, and the universe’s tiny pinpoint in it?
Yeah, I think that’s the effect of getting more than a 30,000-foot view or 28,000-foot view, getting a zillion-foot view.
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