World Peace Through Technology

The Overview Effect is the psychological, emotional, and spiritual results from viewing the Earth from space. The term was used by Frank White in his 1987 book The Overview Effect: Space Exploration and Human Evolution to describe the incredible stories from astronauts who describe the feelings and thoughts they had when viewing the Earth from the outside, and the changes that the effect inspired. What happens to many astronauts is a shift in perception and understanding as the they clearly see that everything on the Earth is interconnected and functions as one planet, soaring through space with its celestial neighbors. Humanity’s unity and the arbitrary nature of boundaries become obvious.

In addition, the Earth’s atmosphere is seen for what it really is, a thin blue haze covering the Earth like an egg shell. The delicate and fragile view of the planet inspires people to return to Earth and work on ecological and environmental issues, with the understanding that such a tiny layer of atmosphere needs to be protected. And then there is the emotional response to seeing your home, the only place you’ve ever known, from someplace else. A home that looks more beautiful than anything you’ve ever seen, against a backdrop of empty darkness and distant stars. The effect far exceeded the astronaut’s expectations, even the ones already familiar with the Overview Effect. It has been described as “instant global consciousness”, a chance to experience a cosmic perspective, and the “big picture”. Astronaut Edgar Mitchell described it as a “spontaneous epiphany experience”, more meaningful than walking on the Moon.

Neil Armstrong, the first person to walk on the Moon, was deeply humbled not by the first view of our majestic satellite, but by the sight of the Earth, our ancient home. “It suddenly struck me that that tiny pea, pretty and blue, was the Earth. I put up my thumb and shut one eye, and my thumb blotted out the planet Earth. I didn’t feel like a giant. I felt very, very small.” Another astronaut, Alan Shepard, agreed, “If somebody’d said before the flight, ‘Are you going to get carried away looking at the earth from the moon?’ I would have say, ‘No, no way.’ But yet when I first looked back at the earth, standing on the moon, I cried.”

Frank White states that “the Overview Effect is a message from the universe to humanity. The message is that the Earth, when seen from orbit or the moon, is a whole system, where borders and boundaries disappear, and everything is interconnected. Our planet is a tiny spaceship in an enormous universe, which is itself a whole system, of which we are an important part. We are the crew of a natural spaceship called Earth, which is hurtling through the universe at a high rate of speed. In a very real sense, all of us are astronauts, but we do not realize it because we normally do not experience it. As so many people around the world have realized, humanity stands at a crossroads, and we will either choose to hear the message of the Overview Effect, or we will continue on a path that is destructive to ourselves and our planet.” The implications of the Overview Effect were explored in Buckminister Fuller’s idea of Spaceship Earth, in which the visionary scientist discussed ways of creating peace and cooperation, in order to better manage or “steer” this planet.

Apollo 15 astronaut James Irwin, the 8th person to walk on the moon, said that “the Earth reminded us of a Christmas tree ornament hanging in the blackness of space. As we got farther and farther away it diminished in size. Finally it shrank to the size of a marble, the most beautiful marble you can imagine. That beautiful, warm, living object looked so fragile, so delicate, that if you touched it with a finger it would crumble and fall apart. Seeing this has to change a man, has to make a man appreciate the creation of God.” Sultan Bin Salman al-Suad, the first astronaut from Saudi Arabia, explained how “the first day or so we all pointed to our countries. The third or fourth day we were pointing to our continents. By the fifth day we were aware of only one Earth.”

Astronaut Edgar Mitchell wrote about his life-changing experiences from space in his book The Way of the Explorer. From the window of the Apollo 14 Command Module, he stared at the “blue jewel-like home planet suspended in the velvety blackness from which we had come. What I saw out the window was all I had ever known, all I have ever loved and hated, longed for, all that I once thought had ever been and ever would be. It was there suspended in the cosmos on that fragile little sphere. I experienced a grand epiphany accompanied by exhilaration, an event I would later refer to in terms that could not be more foreign to my upbringing in West Texas and later, New Mexico. From that moment on, my life was irrevocably altered.”

In 2008, Frank White and philosopher David Beaver launched the Overview Institute to promote and study the effect. They encourage “thinking about populations, places, and problems as highly interconnected. It’s the opposite of targeted, focused advocacy, especially if that advocacy comes at the expense of other areas of need. Belief in the need for collaboration underpins an Overview philosophy. It posits that exposure to space travel has tremendous power to inspire sincere enthusiasm to solve big, interrelated environmental and social problems facing the world.” The institute is made up of astronauts, writers, artists, activists, and people in the space business. They believe that the Overview Effect will change the world.

Last year, Frank collaborated with the artists at the Planetary Collective to make a film about the Overview Effect. The film, called Overview, attempts to share that experience with you, and inspire a greater connection with this planet. The Planetary Collective was founded in 2011, and believes that “the root of the environmental and social crises facing humanity is the misperception that we are separate – from each other, the planet, and the cosmos as a whole.”

Frank White describes the film as “a complex message that includes several components. First, it is true that there are no borders or boundaries on our planet except those that we create in our minds or through human behaviors. All the ideas and concepts that divide us when we are on the surface begin to fade from orbit and the moon. The result is a shift in worldview, and in identity. Second our planet is, in the words of panelist Ron Garan, a fragile oasis and we need to take care of it. So there is a strong environmental component to the message. Third is that we are one species with one destiny as we move out from the Earth and begin to explore the universe.”

Overview the film

Astronaut Ron Garan, who served on the International Space Station, was profoundly affected by the overview of the Earth. Ron explained that he had “returned to Earth after that first space mission with a call to action. I could no longer accept the status quo on our planet. We have the resources and technology to solve many, if not all of the problems facing our planet yet nearly a billion people do not have access to clean water, countless go to bed hungry every night, and many die from preventable and curable diseases. We live in a world where the possibilities are limited only by our imagination and our will to act. It is within our power to eliminate the suffering and poverty that exist on our planet. We have the technology that can enable true global collaboration that is consistent and world changing. Our real challenge is demonstrating how vital and valuable collaboration is, despite the real and perceived risks. Open collaborations make solutions better through the pooling of resources and information. Working together multiplies cost-effectiveness while reducing duplication of effort. It is the only real way to enable economies and solutions of scale. Perhaps most importantly, collaboration encourages greater accountability and fosters trust.”

Ron Garan was so inspired, that once back on Earth he worked with NASA to form Fragile Oasis, a grassroots initiative to connect the orbital perspective of astronauts who live and work in space with people who want to make a difference here on Earth. Fragile Oasis has several projects, including one that focuses on collaborations called Unity Node, which is working to unify efforts to provide collaborative platforms, and is striving to create a universal open source platform for global collaboration. Ron thought, “There has to be a way for all to collaborate toward our common goals. An effective collaboration mechanism will pair together challenges with solutions, bringing together different unique pieces of the puzzle and enabling us to learn from each other’s successes and failures and make all these organizations’ technologies and approaches considerably more effective than they would be otherwise. Since there are multiple organizations looking to develop tools to enable collaboration, it is critical to unify those efforts.”

TEDxSalford, where Ron Garan gave a talk about Unity Node, described it as “an unprecedented endeavor to change the world in a profound and positive way: it aims to bring together millions of scattered charity organizations around the world by developing a central data tool and a menu of applications. The effort is unique in many ways; not only it leans on a celestial point of view helping people to perceive the bigger picture, but also it strives to bring unity between many social collaborative platforms. The international team of people and organizations together form Unity Node aiming to build an open source platform, unifying the efforts of various sectors to address and respond to humanitarian needs. If anything, the International Space Station is a proof that everything is possible. The space facility created by a collaboration of 15 nations working together is a truly one of a kind achievement showing that collective efforts have far-reaching effects.”

Unity Node is connecting humanity’s changemakers

Ron Garan spent 178 days in space, traveling 71,075,867 miles in 2,842 orbits around our planet, including 4 spacewalks. Recently, he wrote about what it was like to see Earth from space. “We all have moments in our lives where something shifts, clicks into place. For me it was in June of 2008, when I clamped my feet to the end of the robotic Canadarm-2 on the International Space Station. With me firmly attached to the end, the arm was flown through a maneuver that we called the ‘windshield wiper’, which took me across a long arc above the space station and back. As I approached the top of this arc, it was as if time stood still, and I was flooded with both emotion and awareness. Here I was, 100 feet above the space station, looking down at this incredible man-made accomplishment against the backdrop of our indescribably beautiful Earth, 240 miles below. Witnessing the absolute beauty of the planet we have been given from this perspective was a very moving experience. But as I looked down at this stunning, fragile oasis — this island that has been given to us, and has protected all life from the harshness of space – a sadness came over me, and I was hit in the gut with an undeniable sobering contradiction. In spite of the indescribable beauty of this moment in my life, I couldn’t help but think of the inequity that exists on the apparent paradise we have been given. I couldn’t help but think of all the people who don’t have clean water to drink or enough food to eat, of the social injustice, conflicts, and poverty that exists throughout the Earth. Seeing the Earth from this vantage point gave me a unique perspective – something I’ve come to call the orbital perspective.”

Ron Garan looking out the International Space Station window

Frank White pondered the potential for creating peace through the Overview Effect when he wrote, “How would everything change if we began to think of ourselves as a seven billion member team, a crew on a spacecraft? What if we expanded our thinking to include other sentient life as part of that team, and perhaps even beyond, to consider everything on the Earth as team members? Would it reduce all conflict on the Earth? No, there are conflicts on teams and crews, disagreements about the best way to proceed in winning a game, a battle, or a trophy. However, the balance between cooperation and conflict might well be restored to something more appropriate to a species seeking to evolve and prosper. From orbit, we see the unity of the Earth, while from the surface, we see its diversity. From orbit, we also see a new diversity lying beyond the unity of our home planet. Neither unity nor diversity is the complete picture. If we are to understand the philosophy of the Overview Effect, then, we must understand the principle that our awareness of ourselves, the Earth, the solar system, and the universe changes with our physical perspective. This awareness then affects our knowledge of who we are and our behavior in relationship to our environment.”

“Returning to the definition of philosophy as ‘a theory or attitude that acts as a guiding principle for behavior,’ we can say that the Overview Effect points to the principle that one of the primary rationales for space exploration is that it transforms how we think, how we see ourselves – our world view. A second principle is that we, and our world view, will constantly evolve, and that this is both necessary and inevitable. Another way to describe ‘space exploration’ is to call it ‘evolution into the universe’. As humanity begins to explore the larger environment beyond the Earth, we will evolve, and as we do so, the universe itself will also evolve because we are a part of it. One of the most immediate results of the Overview Effect to date is that it has given impetus to the environmental movement. This has already produced a new philosophy of Earth that guides our behavior relative to the planet. We no longer see it as limitless, to be exploited continuously for our own needs. Increasingly, we see it as a limited whole system that must be treated with great care, for our own survival and for the planet’s benefit. Yet, there is more to it than that. We are also realizing that the various systems of which we are a part, through us, may be said to become aware of themselves.”

James Lovelock, author of the Gaia hypothesis, said: “Gaia is now through us awake and aware of herself. She has seen the reflection of her fair face through the eyes of astronauts and the television cameras of orbiting spacecraft.”

Frank White expanded on Lovelock’s idea to suggest that, “Building on the work I have done concerning the Overview Effect and on Lovelock’s suggestion that the Earth is a living system, I have posited the ‘Cosma Hypothesis’. By this, I mean that the universe is also a living system with a degree of self-awareness. By definition, this must be so, since we are alive and conscious, and part of the universe. The question is whether, as we evolve, might our purpose be to help the universe become increasingly self-aware? Might our philosophy of space exploration, our guiding principle, be to transform not only our own world view but also that of the universe itself?”

The universe is a single living, conscious being
of which we are a small part.
And our expanding awareness may be helping
the whole universe become more aware.

You don’t need to go out in space to receive the Overview Effect. A lesser version of the effect is achieved through photographs and video, and even these minor effects have had profound implications on humanity, and our understanding of ourselves. In 1950, astronomer Sir Fred Hoyle made a prediction on BBC radio, “Once a photograph of the Earth, taken from outside is available – once the sheer isolation of the Earth becomes known – a new idea as powerful as any in history will be let loose.” That prediction came true, embodied in the three most widely known examples…

The Overview film’s release was timed to coincide with the 40th anniversary of the famous image of the whole Earth referred to as “Blue Marble”, the most widely distributed image in human history. The image, along with other Earth images, is credited with inspiring the environmental movement, and an interest in global consciousness. The photograph, named AS17-148-22727 by NASA, is credited to the three astronauts aboard the Apollo 17 spacecraft – Eugene Cernan, Ronald Evans, and Jack Schmitt. The photograph is a part of a series of the only images of the full Earth ever taken by humans, and possibly the most beautiful one in existence. It has been shown as an example of Earth’s frailty, vulnerability, and isolation amid the vast expanse of space. Astronaut Jack Schmitt stated, “I’ll tell you, if there ever was a fragile appearing piece of blue in space, it’s the Earth right now.”

The Apollo 17 mission was the last manned flight to the Moon, and the last time humans were far enough away from the Earth to see it as marble in space. The Blue Marble photograph was taken on December 7, 1972. To the astronauts, the Earth had the appearance and size of a glass marble. At the time the picture was taken, the astronauts were 28,000 miles above the planet, moving at 40,000 km/hr. They were on the way to the Moon, where they would leave behind a plaque inscribed with the words, “May the spirit of peace in which we came be reflected in the lives of all mankind.” That plaque sums up the potential impact on humanity, not just from being on the Moon itself, but from looking up and seeing the Earth from that perspective.

The “Earthrise” photograph, named AS08-16-2593 by NASA, was taken on December 22, 1968, by the crew of the Apollo 8 spacecraft, Frank Borman, Jim Lovell, and William Anders. They were the first humans to leave the gravitational influence of the Earth and orbit another celestial body, against uncertain odds of succeeding. They are the only humans to ever witness an Earthrise, but thanks to photographic technology we are all able to see it. The photo ignited the imagination of humanity, and is considered one of the most significant photos ever taken. It happened spontaneously, when the astronauts were suddenly in awe of the view. Here is the conversation which took place between the astronauts:

Borman: “Oh my God! Look at that picture over there! Here’s the Earth coming up. Wow, is that pretty.”
Anders: “Hey, don’t take that, it’s not scheduled.”
Borman: (laughing) “You got a color film, Jim?”
Anders: “Hand me that roll of color quick, will you…”
Lovell: “Oh man, that’s great!”

Three days later, the poet Archibald MacLeish wrote Riders on the Earth, in which he described the response to seeing Earthrise, “For the first time in all of time, men have seen the Earth. Seen it not as continents or oceans from the little distance of a hundred miles or two or three, but seen it from the depths of space; seen it whole and round and beautiful and small. To see the Earth as it truly is, small and blue and beautiful in that eternal silence where it floats, is to see ourselves as riders on the Earth together, brothers on that bright loveliness in the eternal cold – brothers who know that they are truly brothers.” Apollo 8 astronaut Jim Lovell stated at the time, “The vast loneliness up here at the moon is awe inspiring, and it makes you realize what you have back there on Earth. The Earth from here is a grand oasis in the big vastness of space.”

Up till now, there have only been 24 people who have able to see the Earth from far enough away that it appears complete. And there have been just over 500 people who have left the Earth’s atmosphere and seen the planet from above. But there have been many unmanned spacecraft which have taken photographs of the Earth, and other planets. And from one of those robotic probes, the Voyager 1 spacecraft, came the third most inspiring photograph of the Earth called the “Pale Blue Dot”.

The Pale Blue Dot was taken on Valentine’s Day 1990 by the first human built object sent to leave our solar system. Four billion miles away from Earth, Voyager 1 turned its camera back towards its home planet and took a picture. The picture features a hazy view of black, with a couple of light streaks across it from the sun. Nothing exceptional, except a little blue dot that was almost missed. The command sequence that controlled the timing for each photograph’s exposure was developed by two University of Arizona scientists. One of them, Candice Hansen-Koharcheck, was working at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Lab viewing the images when she noticed the dot. Later she explained, “It was just a little dot, about two pixels big, three pixels big, so not very large. You know, I still get chills down my back because here was our planet, bathed in this ray of light, and it just looked incredibly special.” The full image size was actually 640,000 individual pixels, including the Earth at a mere 12% of a single pixel, but that was still big enough to make a huge impact on humanity.

Carl Sagan, who had worked with NASA on the golden record attached to the Voyager spacecraft, was the one who had suggested that they turn the craft around and take a picture of Earth. Vice Adm. Richard Truly, the head of NASA at the time, recalled the suggestion, “I did get a visit from Carl Sagan. We talked about a lot of things. And somewhere in that conversation he mentioned this idea. I thought, heck, with Voyager so far away, if it could turn around and take a picture of the different planets including the Earth, that that would really be cool.”

Carl Sagan would later write his famous ode to the Pale Blue Dot, “From this distant vantage point, the Earth might not seem of any particular interest. But for us, it’s different. Consider again that dot. That’s here. That’s home. That’s us. On it everyone you love, everyone you know, everyone you ever heard of, every human being who ever was, lived out their lives. The aggregate of our joy and suffering, thousands of confident religions, ideologies, and economic doctrines, every hunter and forager, every hero and coward, every creator and destroyer of civilization, every king and peasant, every young couple in love, every mother and father, hopeful child, inventor and explorer, every teacher of morals, every corrupt politician, every ‘superstar,’ every ‘supreme leader,’ every saint and sinner in the history of our species lived there — on a mote of dust suspended in a sunbeam. The Earth is a very small stage in a vast cosmic arena. Think of the rivers of blood spilled by all those generals and emperors so that, in glory and triumph, they could become the momentary masters of a fraction of a dot. Think of the endless cruelties visited by the inhabitants of one corner of this pixel on the scarcely distinguishable inhabitants of some other corner, how frequent their misunderstandings, how eager they are to kill one another, how fervent their hatreds. There is perhaps no better demonstration of the folly of human conceits than this distant image of our tiny world. To me, it underscores our responsibility to deal more kindly with one another, and to preserve and cherish the only home we’ve ever known. The pale blue dot.”

Carl Sagan reading “The Pale Blue Dot”

However powerful the photographs of the Earth may be, they are subtle compared to the effect of actually seeing the Earth from space. Part of the difference is in the fact that there is nothing in our lives that can relate to the experience. Part of the difference is that the trip from our planet, and the weightlessness and darkness of space, contribute to the effect. Radically new sensory experiences force the brain to reorganize to give meaning to the new information, which is the root of the Overview Effect. Apollo 11 Astronaut Michael Collins explained how “those who saw pictures of the Earth and then thought ‘Oh, I’ve seen everything those astronauts have seen,’ were kidding themselves… an image alone was a pseudo-sight that denies the reality of the matter.”

Astronaut Edgar Mitchell described his experience returning from the Moon, “There was a startling recognition that the nature of the universe was not as I had been taught. My understanding of the separate distinctness and relative independence of movement of those cosmic bodies was shattered. I experienced what has been described as an ecstasy of unity. I not only saw the connectedness, I felt it. I was overwhelmed with the sensation of physically and mentally extending out into the cosmos. I realized that this was a biological response of my brain attempting to reorganize and give meaning to information about the wonderful and awesome processes that I was privileged to view.”

The awe experienced when seeing pictures of the Earth for the first time offers new sensory information that may shift our worldview, but the images do not have the psychological, emotional, and spiritual effects of the real experience. That is why the Overview Institute is excited about the potential of private space travel, which will allow for many more people to experience the Overview Effect personally. The challenge will be to provide that experience to people beyond the wealthiest who can afford that travel.

Astronaut Gene Cernan said, “You wonder, if you could get everyone in the world up there, wouldn’t they have a different feeling?” Apollo 11 astronaut Michael Collins stated, “The pity of it is that so far the view has been the exclusive property of a handful of test pilots, rather than the world leaders who need this new perspective, or the poets who might communicate it to them.”

Philosopher and author David Loy explained in the film Overview that “to have that experience of awe is, at least for the moment, to let go of yourself, to transcend this sense of separation. So it’s not just that they were experiencing something other than them, but that they were, at some very deep level, integrating and realizing their interconnectedness with that beautiful blue-green ball.” Astronaut Edward Gibson said of his experience in space, “You see how diminutive your life and concerns are compared to other things in the universe. The result is that you enjoy the life that is before you. It allows you to have inner peace.” Astronaut Gus Grissom said, “There is a clarity, a brilliance to space that simply doesn’t exist on Earth. And nowhere else can you be so awed.” Cosmonaut Oleg Makarov said, “Something about the unexpectedness of this sight, its incompatibility with anything we have ever experienced on earth elicits a deep emotional response. Suddenly, you get a feeling you’ve never had before. That you’re an inhabitant of the Earth.”

Frank White wrote, “From space, the astronauts tell us, national boundaries vanish, the conflicts that divide us become less important, and the need to create a planetary society with the united will to protect this ‘pale, blue dot’, becomes both obvious and imperative. Even more so, many of them tell us that from the overview perspective, all of this seems imminently achievable – if only more people could have the experience!” Space tourist Richard Garriott explained, “It was like drinking from a fire hose of information. I had heard of the Overview Effect, but having done many extreme things in my life – skydiving, mountain climbing, visiting the Titanic and Antarctica, I didn’t think it would greatly affect me. That is until, I got into space! My life has changed because of my space experience.”

Astronaut Don Lind said, “Intellectually, I knew what to expect. I have probably looked at as many pictures from space as anybody, so I knew exactly what I was going to see. But there is no way you can be prepared for the emotional impact. It brought tears to my eyes.” Space tourist Anousheh Ansari agreed, “The actual experience exceeds all expectations and is something that’s hard to put to words. It sort of reduces things to a size that you think everything is manageable. Peace on Earth – no problem.”

In spite of the difficulties, the Overview Effect has been spreading here on Earth. On November 7, 2013, the Smithsonian National Air & Space Museum held an event called “The Overview Effect: Bringing it Down to Earth“. David Beaver and Frank White were joined by astronauts as they discussed the Overview Effect, and aired the film Overview. Inspired by the Overview Effect, the University of Central Florida had a two year research project to explore “Space, Science, and Spirituality“. The project involved scientists, philosophers, and scholars in the humanities to investigate, both theoretically and empirically, the effects of outer space travel on the inner space of experience, focusing on experiences of awe, wonder, curiosity, and humility during space flight as reported by astronauts.

How can the Overview Effect be felt by those on Earth? Perhaps new immersive media environments can recreate the experience in such a way that it has transformative effects. There are other things which subtlety mimic the effects of overview, including airplane rides, deep connections with nature, and views from extremely tall buildings. It can even be said that the Internet provides a sort of Overview Effect. Hanne Hvattum wrote in a blog post, “Isn’t this perspective quite similar to what we are all experiencing as we are drifting around in cyberspace? Through the World Wide Web we are able to view humanity from a distance, not through the windows of a spaceship, but through the windows of our computers. For the first time in history, our stories and ideas are woven together in one huge and complex picture, as people from all over the world are sharing their thoughts, questions and knowledge, their hopes, fears and dreams. Never before have we been able to see ourselves more clearly than we do today. And the more stories we put into this virtual picture of humanity, the more detailed it gets. Through the Internet, the majority of the world’s population is given the chance to experience The Overview Effect! I believe this will change us. That it will help us make the shift into global awareness, by reminding us that we are all interconnected. We are all astronauts in cyberspace!”

“Earth bound history has ended. Universal history has begun.”
– Edwin Hubble

The project to send men to space and the Moon was a triumph of large-scale cooperation and collaboration, and shows the power of collective intention. It was a journey of the human spirit and an example of its potential. As a reward for our effort, we received the magic of the Overview Effect. Many people have noticed that the most profound effects from our travels in space have not been discoveries made on the Moon, or on other planets, but on our understanding of ourselves and our home planet. David Beaver describes the Overview Effect as the “impact of space travel on the human mind and society.” “In outer space, you develop an instant global consciousness, a people orientation, an intense dissatisfaction with the state of the world, and a compulsion to do something about it. From out there on the moon, international politics look so petty,” explains astronaut Edgar Mitchell.

We are living, as Frank White says, “at a critical moment in human history. The challenges of climate change, food, water, and energy shortages as well as the increasing disparity between the developed and developing nations are testing our will to unite, while differences in religions, cultures, and politics continue to keep us apart. The creation of a “global village” through satellite TV and the Internet is still struggling to connect the world into one community. At this critical moment, our greatest need is for a global vision of planetary unity and purpose for humanity as a whole.” Indeed, the only way to solve problems on a global scale in such an interconnected world is through cooperation and shared purpose, while being conscious of our actions and their effects. The Overview Effect provides an effective and inspiring lesson on understanding and finding the solutions. Astronaut Russell Schweickart stated, “You look down there and you can’t imagine how many borders and boundaries you cross, again and again and again, and you don’t even see them. There are hundreds of people in the Mideast killing each other over some imaginary line that you’re not even aware of and that you can’t see.”

The story of our travels in space brings out awe and wonder in people from around the world. It is the most profound story of our time, in contrast to the most horrific story of our time – our continuous spoiling and disregard for the Earth and each other. The stories from space resonate far greater than the popular stories of division and conflict and greed, because they come from a much higher place. But more than that, it is the inspiration for action to protect the world and its people that gives the story added importance.

Around the year 30 BC, Marcus Tullius Cicero said that “the contemplation of celestial things will make a man both speak and think more sublimely and magnificently when he descends to human affairs.” Forever bound to the land, he could not have imagined the impact of actually experiencing celestial things, and perhaps more importantly experiencing this planet in a celestial light. According to astronaut Jeff Hoffman, “We have to start acting as one species, one destiny. We are not going to survive if we don’t do that… And a part of that is to come up with a new story, a new picture, a new way to approach this and to shift our behaviors in such a way that it leads to a sustainable approach to our civilization as opposed to a destructive approach.”

“We have been evolving from the beginning of civilization to a larger and larger perspective of life, but the next natural evolution is understanding the life in space. That is, the earth, as Buckminister Fuller used to say, is a spaceship… Spaceship Earth,” says David Beaver. As we travel beyond the Earth and our solar system, the Overview Effect also expands our awareness beyond the global level, eventually to the galactic and universal levels. Frank White explained that “we need to understand that the Overview Effect is not only about seeing the Earth from space but, as my colleague David Beaver likes to point out, also seeing it in space. We are in space, we have always been in space, and we always will be in space, whether we leave the planet or not. In a very real sense, all of us are astronauts, members of the crew of Spaceship Earth, and the time has come to realize that this is so.”

At the 2007 conference of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Jun Okushi and Marilyn Dudley-Flores gave a talk called Space and Perceptions of Space in Spacecraft: An Astrosociological Perspective, in which they explored the impact of the Overview Effect on society. They asked, “Would communicating the experience of astronauts aboard the ISS transcend cultural, technological and interdisciplinary divisions on Earth? Would a multi-modal communications system inspire a new human cognition by enabling comprehensive human perceptions of space, humanity’s places within it, and cultural identities in relation to one another by offering a diversity of human percipients’ intimate experiences from the Cosmos-based vantage point? After all, astronauts have returned from space missions claiming to have been changed from their unique vantage point of being up there.”

Jun and Marilyn theorized that “if every person on the planet could see the Earth from space and experience being in space, then each person could develop a planetary consciousness. In other words, if a diversity of people could experience the space experience as realistically as possible, then they would demonstrate heightened situation awareness. This situation awareness over time could then be measured by various indicators that would demonstrate a trend toward good global citizenship, social investment in people, and outward and future-looking optimistic views vs. nationalist agendas, unbounded profit-making at the expense of people and the planet, and a decrease in inward, past- and present-looking fatalistic views. Some indicators would be things like increased demands for laws to protect the environment, for better disaster preparedness on the parts of local, regional, and national governments, for educational programs pitched toward mitigating the planetary global warming emergency, and an overall greater interest in the long-duration human exploration and development of space and the future of humanity. This leads to the enunciation of a related hypothesis: Constructive holistic thought processes and actions can potentially become physically manifest on an individual, collective, and global scale if technology, human intelligence, and international cooperation are harnessed effectively cross-culturally and across disciplines.”

After seeing this planet from the outside, astronaut Ron Garan said, “As I looked back at our Earth from the orbital perspective, I saw a world where natural and man-made boundaries disappeared, I saw a world becoming more and more interconnected and collaborative, a world where the exponential increase in technology was making the impossible possible on a daily basis. Thinking about the next 50 years, I imagined a world where people and organizations set aside their differences and work together toward their common goals. They set aside their differences and realize that each and every one of us is riding through the Universe together on this Spaceship we call Earth. They realize that because we are all interconnected, we are all in this together and because we are all family, the only way to solve the problems we all face is together.”

After all, we are all on this ride together.

What is humanity’s relationship to technology? And what does it mean to be technologically wise?

Dr. Allen Kanner, co-founder of the Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood and co-editor of the book Ecopsychology, recently wrote an article in Tikkun magazine on technological wisdom, in which he describes the illusion of technological neutrality and the need to shift from technological progress to technological wisdom. Allen warns that “our species is at a technological crux, a moment when it needs to examine its ability to create as never before. Collectively, we are having a manic-depressive reaction to our inventions. On the one hand, we can but marvel with giddy anticipation as scientific and technical wizards spin out one stunning innovation after another. On the other, we are horrified with disbelief as we witness these same innovations destroying complex life on the planet. Obviously, we need to find a more even keel, an internal equilibrium in which we can fully absorb all the wonders and dangers of each invention and then decide, with full use of our rational faculties, if the gains are worth the losses. This would be the beginning of technological wisdom.”

We have become dependent on our technology to exist, and have come to believe that only technological solutions can solve our problems. The technology we develop is wholly dependent on our intentions. By relying on tools instead of improving our understanding, we are travelling on a path to destruction and separation. Wisdom is found in the users of tools, not in the technology itself.

Futurist Neil Postman described our society’s relationship to technology in his book Technopoly: “Technopoly is a state of culture. It is also a state of mind. It consists in the deification of technology, which means that the culture seeks its authorization in technology, finds its satisfactions in technology, and takes its orders from technology. This requires the development of a new kind of social order, and of necessity leads to the rapid dissolution of much that is associated with traditional beliefs. Those who feel most comfortable in Technopoly are those who are convinced that technological progress is humanity’s supreme achievement and the instrument by which our most profound dilemmas may be solved.”

But technology is also responsible for most of our problems. Modern technology requires many natural resources, found spread throughout the planet, to be harvested, processed, and distributed. The use of a tool can not be separated from its physical origin, just like humans can not be separated from our natural environment or from the tools we use. Allen wrote, “Thus, the value of any technology is only partially determined by the security, comfort, and convenience it confers. We need also to know if it draws us closer to the land, to each other, and to the cosmos. These relational, political, and spiritual/ethical dimensions are always present in our inventions and are part of their inherent pull.”

Whether we have technology or not is not an issue, humans are inherently designed for making and using tools. It is a specialty which should be respected and nurtured. We are developing the tools to do anything we can imagine, but our imagination is caught in an isolated web of fear and greed. Open source technologies represent a different approach, enabling collective intention to determine what is made and how. There is also a global movement to be more conscious of what is needed to produce technology, exploring ways to work sustainably in harmony with our environment. But most importantly, we need to re-connect with the rest of our planet, and stop replacing that connection with material objects and anger.

“At present, much that we manufacture is, in a word, junk. As consumer society transforms into a technologically wise one, far fewer things will be made, allowing those items that remain to be of much higher quality and to be produced under considerably more favorable circumstances than the modern factory affords. People who work with wood, metal, or stone will know the local forests, caves, and mountains from which their materials come,” says Allen. “Our technological potential is unfulfilled, and unfulfillable, when it is divorced from the spirit of the Earth.”

The Native American perspective on technology is explained by Jeannette Armstrong, co-founder and director of the En’owkin School of International Writing, the first accredited Canadian writing school operated solely by and for Aboriginal people. In Ecopsychology, Jeannette shares the technological wisdom of her people, the Okanagan: “We are tiny and unknowledgeable in our individual selves, it is the whole-Earth part of us that contains immense knowledge. Over the generations of human life, we have come to discern small parts of that knowledge, and humans house this internally. The way we act in our human capacity has significant effect on the Earth because it is said that we are the hands of the spirit, in that we can fashion Earth pieces with that knowledge and therefore transform the Earth. It is our most powerful potential, and so we are told that we are responsible for the Earth. We are keepers of the Earth because we are Earth.”

Dr. Kanner explained, “Human beings are destined to mold the Earth. Gifted with exquisite hands, passionate imaginations, and boundless curiosity about how things work, we need to tinker, prod, poke, and build. It is in our genes, and our souls, to engage so completely with our physical surroundings that we alter them, just as the abundant fertility of the planet could not help but produce us. Indeed, our propensity to construct and redo may be a flamboyant expression of the generativity of our evolving world, which in its four-and-a-half-billion-year history has never ceased to cast itself anew. To be against technology is to deny a crucial part of human nature. Today, however, it has become extremely difficult to fully appreciate or ponder our ability to make things. Instead, we are caught in a tragically flawed philosophy called “technological progress” that blinds us to the numerous choices we have, the various ways open to us to become both wise and creative technological beings. It is as if we had decided that the only proper use of our legs is to run, and run as hard as we can, at every possible moment.”

“At present, our modern machines are polluting the Earth, increasing the pace and stress of daily life, and transforming our environment faster than we can comprehend. We are experiencing one wave of future shock after another and cannot seem to slow down long enough to figure out why. We can only have faith that the next set of advances—nanotechnology, bioengineering, virtual reality—will magically save us.

As an ecopsychologist, I am interested in the personal relationships we each have with the natural and built worlds and how these relationships interact. Our many inventions and devices are not only altering the face of the planet, but also radically changing our connection to nature, to each other, and to ourselves. These are profound changes worthy of our most serious attention. Yet at present there is no “psychology of technology,” if by this we mean a systematic examination of the myriad influences of each innovation on our psyches, our relationships, our identities. This is a curious state of affairs, especially since psychology has turned its magnifying glass onto so many other aspects of our lives. But my profession is itself caught up in the sweep of technological progress and assumes that each “advancement” is ultimately positive, inevitable, or both,” Allen continued.

“An alternative view, and one that ushers in the full psychological complexity of technology, conceives of our capacity to mold the Earth as engaging in a two-way relationship. As we enter into this relationship, we will be transformed. In this act of transformation, certain questions emerge. What happens to us, and the world, when we do not try to build it up as fast as possible? What happens when we do? Is there such a thing as technological walking, skipping, strolling, and meandering, as well as running, and how do our experience and treatment of our selves and surroundings differ in each of these modes?”

As we become more aware, and more connected with the rest of the planet and beyond, our technology will follow. We, not our tools, are the captains on this living, moving planet. And just as our technology becomes an extension of our hands and eyes and brain, humans are the hands and eyes and brain of the Earth itself.

In a sense, it could be said that humanity is a technology of this planet to better care for and understand itself.

Today begins one of the most dangerous missions that humanity has ever attempted, the removal of over a thousand nuclear fuel rods from Reactor #4 at the damaged Fukushima Dai-ichi power plant in Japan. The potential release of radiation is beyond anything that we have experienced before. We can only hope that everything goes smoothly with this operation, which could take years. At the same time, an even greater disaster is slowly and relentlessly unfolding around us each day, through the many ways we are comprising the planet’s biosystems and making irresponsible short-term decisions. We are clearly living out of balance with the earth.

“Powerful technologies are out of control and are threatening the future of all life.”

On October 31, 2013, an urgent message from the Indigenous Elders and Medicine Peoples Council, comprised of the wisdom keepers of the native peoples of the western hemisphere, was delivered by Chief Arvol Looking Horse, the spiritual elder of the Sioux Nation (Lakota, Dakota, and Nakota tribes). “This statement reflects the wisdom of the Spiritual People of the Earth, of North and South America, working in unity to restore peace, harmony, and balance for our collective future and for all living beings.” The words express “deep concern for our shared future and urge everyone to awaken spiritually.”

To put what they are saying in context…

The indigenous elders have inherited vital instructions for living thousands of years old. They have passed this wisdom from generation to generation. They were told to keep this knowledge until the time it would be needed by the rest of the world. That time is now. They are now offering their wisdom, for free, to everyone in the world. There are many recent examples of indigenous and religious groups making public ancient knowledge. This is a time of great wisdom being revealed, whether on a website or a documentary or a talk from a visiting teacher.

The ancient wisdom contains instructions on how to live sustainably on this planet, allowing for maximum health and diversity of all the biosystems. For the past few years, indigenous groups have been issuing increasingly urgent calls for change. They have been bringing forth their knowledge and understanding, offering to help bring humanity back into a state of harmony with its environment, and within ourselves and our communities. This knowledge is older than the scientific knowledge that has caused so many unintended problems, and has stood the test of time and progress, and have been proven to be true, as we are seeing with unfolding events around the world. The elders have maintained this wisdom in spite of a long-term systematic attempt to erase all cultural memory from indigenous people under religious and colonial rule, and now corporate rule.

That was not easy. At times the wisdom had to be taught in secret, under threat of death. But the elders of the earth knew that the knowledge they had is important. It is important for living correctly and for understanding reality. This wisdom is the soul of their culture, without which their entire way of life and understanding of the world would die. They also knew that this knowledge would be needed one day by the rest of the world.

Every tribe and culture possesses a unique perspective of the Truth that is essential for a complete understanding. That is an important reason why diversity of life, and culture, is necessary. They all contain pieces of the instructions on how to live on this planet, with respect and harmony, in a sustainable way. Today, modern society is desperately searching for ways to be more sustainable. The indigenous elders of the earth already have the answers, and are begging us to listen.

Council Statement

The Creator created the People of the Earth into the Land at the beginning of Creation and gave us a way of life. This way of life has been passed down generation-to-generation since the beginning. We have not honored this way of life through our own actions and we must live these original instructions in order to restore universal balance and harmony. We are a part of Creation; thus, if we break the Laws of Creation, we destroy ourselves.

We, the Original Caretakers of Mother Earth, have no choice but to follow and uphold the Original Instructions, which sustains the continuity of Life. We recognize our umbilical connection to Mother Earth and understand that she is the source of life, not a resource to be exploited. We speak on behalf of all Creation today, to communicate an urgent message that man has gone too far, placing us in the state of survival. We warned that one day you would not be able to control what you have created. That day is here. Not heeding warnings from both Nature and the People of the Earth keeps us on the path of self destruction. This self destructive path has led to the Fukushima nuclear crisis, Gulf oil spill, tar sands devastation, pipeline failures, impacts of carbon dioxide emissions, and the destruction of ground water through hydraulic fracking, just to name a few. In addition, these activities and development continue to cause the deterioration and destruction of sacred places and sacred waters that are vital for Life. Powerful technologies are out of control and are threatening the future of all life.

The Fukushima nuclear crisis alone is a threat to the future of humanity. Yet, our concern goes far beyond this single threat. Our concern is with the cumulative and compounding devastation that is being wrought by the actions of human beings around the world. It is the combination of resource extraction, genetically modified organisms, moral failures, pollution, introduction of invasive species, and much much more that are threatening the future of life on Earth. The compounding of bad decisions and their corresponding actions are extremely short-sighted. They do not consider the future generations and they do not respect or honor the Creator’s Natural Law. We strongly urge for the governmental authorities to respond with an open invitation to work and consult with us to solve the world’s problems, without war. We must stop waging war against Mother Earth, and ourselves.

We acknowledge that all of these devastating actions originated in human beings who are living without regard for the Earth as the source of life. They have strayed from the Original Instructions by casting aside the Creator’s Natural Law. It is now critical for humanity to acknowledge that we have created a path to self destruction. We must restore the Original Instructions in our lives to halt this devastation.

The sanctity of the Original Instructions has been violated. As a result, the Spiritual People of the Earth were called ceremonially to come together at the home of the Sacred White Buffalo Calf Pipe Bundle. These Spiritual Leaders and those that carry great responsibility for their people from both North and South America came together with the sacred fire for four days at the end of September 2013 to fulfill their sacred responsibilities. During this time it was revealed that the spirit of destruction gained its’ strength by our spiritually disconnected actions. We are all responsible in varying degrees for calling forth this spirit of destruction, thus we are all bound to begin restoring what we have damaged by helping one another recover our sacred responsibility to the Earth. We, the Original Caretakers of Mother Earth, offer our spiritual insight, wisdom, and vision to the global community to help guide the actions needed to overcome the current threats to all life.

We only have to look at our own bodies to recognize the sacred purpose of water on Mother Earth. We respect and honor our spiritual relationship with the lifeblood of Mother Earth. One does not sell or contaminate their mother’s blood. These capitalistic actions must stop and we must recover our sacred relationship with the Spirit of Water.

The People of the Earth understand that the Fukushima nuclear crisis continues to threaten the future of all life. We understand the full implications of this crisis even with the suppression of information and the filtering of truth by the corporate owned media and Nation States. We strongly urge the media, corporations, and Nation States to acknowledge and convey the true facts that threaten us, so that the international community may work together to resolve this crisis, based on the foundation of Truth. We urge the international community, government of Japan, and TEPCO to unify efforts to stabilize and re-mediate the nuclear threat posed at the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant. To ensure that the Japanese government and TEPCO are supported with qualified personnel and information, we urge the inclusion of today’s nuclear experts from around the world to collaborate, advise, and provide technical assistance to prevent further radioactive contamination or worse, a nuclear explosion that may have apocalyptic consequences.

The foundation for peace will be strengthened by restoring the Original Instructions in ourselves.

Prophecies have been shared and sacred instructions were given. We, the People of the Earth, were instructed that the original wisdom must be shared again when imbalance and disharmony are upon Mother Earth. In 1994 the sacred white buffalo, the giver of the sacred pipe, returned to the Lakota, Dakota, and Nakota people bringing forth the sacred message that the winds of change are here. Since that time many more messengers in the form of white animals have come, telling us to wake up my children. It is time. So listen for the sacred instruction.

All Life is sacred. We come into Life as sacred beings.
When we abuse the sacredness of Life we affect all Creation.

We urge all Nations and human beings around the world to work with us, the Original Caretakers of Mother Earth, to restore the Original Instructions and uphold the Creator’s Natural Law as a foundation for all decision making, from this point forward. Our collective future as human beings is in our hands, we must address the Fukushima nuclear crisis and all actions that may violate the Creator’s Natural Law. We have reached the crossroads of life and the end of our existence. We will avert this potentially catastrophic nuclear disaster by coming together with good minds and prayer as a global community of all faiths.

We are the People of the Earth united under the Creator’s Law with a sacred covenant to protect and a responsibility to extend Life for all future generations. We are expressing deep concern for our shared future and urge everyone to awaken spiritually. We must work in unity to help Mother Earth heal so that she can bring back balance and harmony for all her children.

Signed by Representatives of the Council

Chief Arvol Looking Horse
19th Generation Keeper of the Sacred White Buffalo Calf Pipe
Spiritual Leader of the Great Sioux Nation

Bobby C. Billie
Clan Leader and Spiritual Leader of the Council of the Original Miccosukee
Simanolee Nation Aboriginal Peoples

Faith Spotted Eagle, Tunkan Inajin Win
Brave Heart Society Grandmother/Headswoman and Ihanktonwan Treaty Council
Ihanktonwan Dakota from the Oceti Sakowin

The text of the statement can be found here.

On December 6, 2013, Stanford University’s Center for Compassion and Altruism Research and Education (CCARE) is holding the inaugural Compassion and Technology Conference at the Stanford Medical School in Palo Alto, California. Scientists, engineers, social entrepreneurs, and compassionate people will converge at Stanford University for discussions and presentations on the cutting edge of compassion. Plus there is a contest to design technology to enhance compassion. The conference is a collaboration with CCARE, Facebook, 1440 Foundation, HopeLab, and The Dalai Lama Foundation.

The conference’s purpose is to support a dialogue around innovative practices on compassion and technology. Expert researchers and technology leaders who have successfully implemented and fostered compassionate action through the use of technological advancements will present talks on compassion. Conference attendees will learn how compassion can be trained using technological education tools, tracked geographically through mapping tools, used to inspire, and implemented as an intervention in communities where it is most needed (e.g., war zones, prisons, at-risk schools, trauma populations, and healthcare systems).

Compassion is defined as the emotional response to perceiving suffering and involves an authentic desire to help. It is a virtue that is promoted across cultures and religions. A growing body of evidence suggests that compassion is a natural and automatic response that has ensured our survival and that has benefits for psychological and physical health as well as longevity and flourishing.

“While compassion is a fundamental part of every religious tradition, there is an ever enlarging body of scientific evidence that technological advancements have an immense positive impact in terms of increasing compassion and altruistic behavior on both the community level and the individual level. This conference will highlight these aspects from a technological aspect as well as a scientific aspect in an effort to promote awareness and progress, and reward those who are working towards these goals. We at CCARE are very excited to initiate and sponsor the conference and contribute to this expanding field,” says Dr. James Doty, Founder and Director of CCARE.

Preceding the conference on Dec. 5 at Facebook Headquarters will be Facebook’s Compassion Research Day, a bi-annual event about the ways in which Facebook encourages compassionate interactions on its social media platform. Facebook engineers and collaborative research scientists including CCARE’s Associate Director, Emma Seppala, will be presenting.

Compassion and Technology Contest

The Compassion and Technology Contest calls for innovators, engineers, and designers to present a technology design or product that will help people learn, practice, or improve qualities of compassion, empathy, social connectedness, or altruism. Some examples of compassionate technology are a website using knowledge from compassion science to help “build compassion muscles”, compassion education apps, and compassion-inducing video games. The deadline for entries was Oct. 21st. The top finalists will present their ideas at the Compassion and Technology Conference before the audience and a panel of technology expert judges, who will pick the winners.

Three winning finalists will be selected to receive an award (one $10,000 award and two $5,000 awards), an hour consultation with the operating partner of the growth capital fund The Bridge Builders Collaborative, and the opportunity to meet His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama when he visits the Bay Area on February 24, 2014.

The technologies will be judged on whether they:

1. Help people learn, practice, improve, and share one or more of the following qualities: compassion, empathy, social connectedness, altruism.
2. Use technology (broadly defined as tools, apps, social media, etc.) to effectively reach a wide audience and increase the scalability of the idea.
3. Apply to one or more of the following areas: learning, practicing, increasing, and spreading compassion.
4. Are easy to use, so that people without technology expertise can easily access and use it.
5. Are scalable, sustainable, and financially viable.

Krista Tippett is a journalist and host of the National Public Radio program “On Being”, which explores the great questions of human life, such as what does it mean to be human and how do we want to live? Two years ago he gave a TED talk at the United Nations called “Reconnecting with Compassion”. The term “compassion” – typically reserved for the saintly or the sappy – has fallen out of touch with reality. Krista Tippett deconstructs the meaning of compassion through several moving stories, and proposes a new, more attainable definition for the word.

“Compassion is a spiritual technology. Humanity needs this technology as much as it needs all other technologies that have now connected us and set before us the terrifying and wondrous possibility of actually becoming one human race,” explains Krista Tippett.

Compassion is often misunderstood in modern society. Although compassion can be similar to empathy and pity, those words are not its synonyms. In fact, compassion goes far beyond simply feeling another person’s misfortune or sharing in one’s suffering. Compassion is a word which is directly related to awareness. One’s awareness of the world gives him or her the opportunity to empathize with other beings… and actually do something about it. Krista Tippett gives the example of Albert Einstein as a person who not only had compassion for other people, but he served humanity through his exploration of technology.

“Compassion is a spiritual technology.” – Krista Tippett

Why does technology exist? Some people argue that technology is developed out of greed. There is no real evidence to support that claim. Most technology comes out of one’s compassion to solve problems. This is self-evident in things like the paperclip. The person who invented the paperclip named Samuel Fay must have realized that his invention saved time. As he connected fabrics to tickets which denoted either prices or other product information, Samuel must have realized something. There is a moment in the inventor’s mind where one thinks, “This technological idea has value.” When one decides to share technology with the world, he or she is embarking on a journey of compassion.

“Compassion is kindness, practicing curiosity without assumptions, empathy, forgiveness, presence, generosity, hospitality, and a willingness to see beauty not just what we see in another that needs fixing. Compassion also brings us into the territory of mystery – encouraging us not just to see beauty, but perhaps also to look for the face of God in the moment of suffering, in the face of a stranger, in the face of the vibrant religious other. Compassion is a sign of deeper human possibilities.”

The Story of Solutions, a new video from Annie Leonard, explores how we can move our economy in a more sustainable and just direction, starting with orienting ourselves toward a new goal.

In the current “Game of More”, we’re told to cheer a growing economy — more roads, more malls, more Stuff! — even though our health indicators are worsening, income inequality is growing and polar icecaps are melting. But what if we changed the point of the game? What if the goal of our economy wasn’t more, but better — better health, better jobs, and a better chance to survive on the planet? Shouldn’t that be what winning means?

A unique contest was held to show that 3D printers could be a tool for peace. Michigan Technological University’s Open Sustainability Technology (MOST) Lab and 3D printer manufacturer Type A Machines came up with a contest for designs that encourage peace. The deadline for submissions was September 1, 2013, for a chance to win a fully assembled Type A Machines Series 1 3D Printer for first place. As the contest explains, “Winning open-source designs will discourage conflict. Designers are encouraged to consider: If Mother Theresa or Ghandi had access to 3D printing what would they print? What kind of designs could help reduce military spending and conflict while making us all safer and more secure?”
http://www.mtu.edu/materials/printersforpeace/

The examples given of possible designs were low-cost medical devices, tools to help pull people out of poverty, designs that can reduce racial conflict, objects to improve energy efficiency or renewable energy sources to reduce wars over oil, tools that would reduce military conflict and spending while making us all safer and more secure, and things that boost sustainable economic development (e.g. designs for appropriate technology in the developing world to reduce scarcity).

The winners were announced yesterday, and first prize went to John Van Tuyl of Hamilton, Ontario. He created a design for beads that show immunizations, called VaxBeads. The plastic beads act as an immediate immunization record for medical professionals. Each color and shape represents a vaccine, and the blocks can be printed with a child’s initials, date of birth, and an identifying number.

The contest was organized by Michigan Tech’s Joshua Pearce, an associate professor of materials science, who had become alarmed that 3D printing was known primarily as a technology for making homemade guns. “We wanted to celebrate designs that will make lives better, not snuff them out,” said Pearce, a 3D printing aficionado. “They showcase the ability of the 3D printing community to benefit humanity.”

Second prize went to Michigan Tech student, Matt Courchaine, for his Solar Powered Water Purification Cone. In disaster areas or among the millions of people that do not have good water supplies clean water is a precious commodity. This printable design allows users to make clean water from contaminated supplies. The white, semi transparent plastic cover of the solar cone allows sunlight to pass through it and evaporate dirty water contained in the black base tray. Clean water then condenses on the cooler white plastic of the cone and drips into a holding reservoir, which is part of the cone for later drinking. Matt received a open-source 3D printer kit from MOST Lab.

Third prize went to Aaron Meidinger for the design of a Braille Tablet, which can be used by a sighted person to help a blind person to learn braille or a way to leave a quick note for a friend. One prints out a braille platform and a scrabble set of letters, along with some of the punctuation and some blank tiles, to use it to write any short message. Aaron received a sampler pack of 3D printer filament.

“What I’m hoping this does is change the conversation to start really thinking about the constructive uses of 3D printers, not just on manufacturing, but trying to solve some of the most pressing problems, particularly in the developing world,” said contest creator Joshua Pearce. “All the open-source entries demonstrated the technical ability and promise of low-cost 3D printers to provide for humanity’s needs and advance the cause of peace.”

“Michigan Tech has already saved tens of thousands of dollars using 3D printable scientific and engineering equipment and our labs have developed 3D printable tools to test water quality, recycle waste plastic, and found that 3D printing consumer goods is better for the environment than shipping conventional goods from China.”

All the entries are posted on the website Thingiverse.com, which now has over 146,000 open-source designs that can be downloaded for free and printed by anyone with a 3D printer. As Pearce says, “3D printing is changing the world.”

The Dymaxion Map is an iconic design that shows accurate information and supports a global perspective. The idea being that if you change the way you see the world, then you can change the world.

The Dymaxion Map was created by Buckminster Fuller in the 1940’s to accurately map the earth with no visible distortion to land masses, no political boundaries, and no western bias in its orientation. It was first printed in Life magazine in 1943, where map could be cut out from the printed pages and arranged in numerous ways. Fuller later settled on a permanent configuration, an icosahedron that broke up none of the land masses and showed the planet as one island in one ocean. The final map is a series of 20 interconnected triangles, which can be arranged to produce an icosahedron, reminiscent of Fuller’s geodesic dome geometries.

To celebrate the 70th anniversary of the Dymaxion Map, the Buckminster Fuller Institute launched a graphic design challenge, to take the Dymaxion into a contemporary context. The contest was called DYMAX REDUX, and was an open call to create a new and inspiring interpretation of Buckminster Fuller’s Dymaxion Map. The contest was judged by graphic designer Nicholas Felton, artist Mary Mattingly, and Dymaxion Map cartographer and Bucky’s close friend and associate, Shoji Sadao. The winner of the DYMAX REDUX contest would have the winning design produced as a poster, and along with the other ten finalists will be featured at an exhibition at the Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art, in New York City from October 22nd to November 27th, 2013. They received over 300 submissions from 42 countries. “This was the first contest of its kind organized by BFI, and the response and interest has been amazing. We are thrilled to have such a high-level of submissions and look forward to doing more similar initiatives in the future” says BFI Executive Director Elizabeth Thompson.

On August 6th, they announced the winners of the contest. The top design was called Dymaxion Woodocean World. It was produced by Nicole Santucci and Woodcut Maps, from San Francisco, California. Nicole and her team created a display of global forest densities, an ever-increasing important issue with the continued abuses of deforestation. And an actual woodcut version of the map was made in the process, using the very subject matter as building material, allowing the 2-D version to transform into an icosahedral globe. As BFI Store Coordinator Will Elkins put it, “They went above and beyond our call by creating a powerful display of relevant information using the subject matter itself as a medium. The idea, craftsmanship, and end result are stunning.”

The second prize went to the Clouds Dymaxion Map, which follows the spirit of the original map. Anne-Gaelle Amiot used NASA satellite imagery to create this absolutely beautiful hand-drawn depiction of a reality that is almost always edited from our maps: cloud patterns circling above Earth. Anne-Gaelle describes the idea and process, “One of the particularism of Buckminster Fuller’s Dymaxion projection is to give the vision of an unified world. From the space, the Earth appears to us covered, englobed by the cloud masses which circulate around it. By drawing a static image, capture of clouds position in one particular moment, the sensation of a whole is created. The result have the aspect of an abstract pattern, a huge melt where it is impossible to dissociate lands, seas, oceans.”

And an additional recognition went to Map of My Family, a map by Goeff Chritou. His map traces the geographic history of his family, and by extension all families, utilizing lines of movement around the planet. “This map makes the best use of the Dymaxion projection, by highlighting information that is primarily land-based and allowing for the paths to extend in an unbroken fashion throughout the world,” explained judge Nicholas Felton.

In these changing times, it’s important to always ask… What would Bucky do?

Ludwig Van Beethoven once said that “music can change the world.” And so did Jimi Hendrix. The 2013 How Weird Street Faire showed again that music and art can bring thousands of extremely diverse people together to find common ground and celebrate peace.

The How Weird Street Faire uses music, art, and dance to connect across divisions. Traditionally, dance has been one of the primary expressions of human culture, used for communication, community building, social interaction, healing, and religious ceremonies throughout the world. Preceding the spoken and written word, dance is a global language, transcending barriers and differences. And so is music.

Music crosses all bridges, borders, and time zones. Music transcends all ideologies, politics, religions, languages, cultures, and wealth. Music is oblivious to race, gender, age, and appearance. Music connects us all and reminds us that we are human.

The How Weird Street Faire is a world-class music festival that takes place in the streets of downtown San Francisco. It features a wide range of electronic dance music, uniting all the diverse communities of the Bay Area.

Fed up with the violent conflict that has recently engulfed their country, musicians in the west African nation of Mali have come together to call for peace. More than 40 of Mali’s most talented musicians gathered in the capitol city of Bamako to record a song for peace and unity called “Mali Ko” (which means “For Mali”). They collectively call themselves the Voices United for Mali.

The song’s lyrics state, “It is time for us artists to speak about our Mali. Malians, let us join hands because this country is not a country of war. Don’t forget that we are all of the same blood. The only way out of this crisis is the way of peace.”

“War has never been a solution,” the lyrics say. “We don’t want war! Not in our Mali! War destroys everything in its path. We want peace. Peace in Africa! Peace in the world!”

The project was organized by world-renowned singer Fatoumata Diawara, and includes Oumou Sangare, Bassekou Kouyate, Vieux Farka Toure, Djelimady Tounkara, Toumani Diabate, Amadou and Mariam, Khaira Arby, Kasse Mady Diabate, Baba Salah, Tiken Jah, and many others.

The purpose of the song is to remind Malians, both inside and outside of the country, of their power as a people united. Diawara says the song makes two requests: a plea for peace and a plea for the emancipation of women in Mali, because if there is jihad in their country, men will always be able to strike compromises with other men. It will be a lot harder for women.

Diawara explained, “The Malian people look to us,” referring to the country’s musicians. “They have lost hope in politics. But music has always brought hope in Mali. Music has always been strong and spiritual, and has had a very important role in the country, so when it comes to the current situation, people are looking up to musicians for a sense of direction.”

Music has played a fundamental role in Mali’s culture for thousands of years. Mali’s music planted the seeds for many of the music styles we listen to today, from Blues and Jazz, to Soul and Rock and R&B and Hip Hop. The desert blues of Mali is listened to around the world, earning Grammy awards and inspiring collaborations with Western artists, including the Rolling Stones, Carlos Santana, Robert Plant, and Bono. Perhaps more than anywhere else, music is the center of Mali’s culture, preserving its history while serving as a contemporary political tool.

“The multiethnic, multilingual display of artistry in “Mali Ko” is an inspiring reminder of another thing I’ve come to love about Malian society: its long history of peaceful conflict resolution and inter-group harmony,” writes Bruce Whitehorse. “Musicians always agree on looking for peace,” says Bassekou Kouyate, a Grammy-nominated musician from Mali and participant in Voices United for Mali. “We are not afraid of anyone.”

You can listen to the song from Voices United for Mali on their Soundcloud page.

Mali has been in crisis since last January, when Tuaregs in northern Mali began a separatist uprising, newly invigorated by an influx of fighters and weapons from Libya. A military coup by junior officers angry at how the government responded to the Tuareg uprising followed in March, leaving the country in disarray and hastening the loss of its northern half to insurgents. Islamist groups quickly pushed aside the secular Tuareg militants, taking over northern towns and imposing their strict interpretation of Islamic law.

Militants in the north of Mali declared Sharia law, and soon banned music (other than the traditional Islamic calls to prayer). In August this year, a spokesman for the group Ansar al-Din (Defenders of Faith) announced the ban on all western music, saying “We do not want Satan’s music. In its place will be Quranic verses. Sharia demands this.” The term “western music” is a blanket description for all forms of music: modern, traditional, foreign, and local. The result is that music has either disappeared or gone underground.

Meanwhile, almost all the musicians in the north have fled the country, most of whom languish in refugee camps in Algeria, Mauritania, Niger, or Burkina Faso. It is the biggest humanitarian crisis the Sahel has ever known. “There’s no music up there any more,” says Vieux Farka Toure, son of the king of the West African blues, the late Ali Farka Toure.

But the situation is also bad in the south of Mali. Many live music venues in the capital Bamako, such as Le Diplomat, where Diabate and his Symmetric Orchestra used to play every weekend, have closed. The same goes for hotels and restaurants, starved of their once plentiful supply of foreign tourists.

“People use what they earn to feed themselves, not to have fun,” says Bassekou Kouyate. Musicians in the south of Mali are unable to work at the moment as clubs have been closed, public concerts have been postponed, and there are very few weddings taking place. Kouyate said, “The government is nervous and afraid of terrorist attacks on public gatherings. They are asking everyone to wait until the situation in the north has calmed down.”

Rokia Traore, one of Mali’s most famous international stars, says that “without music, Mali will cease to exist.”

In Malian society, music anchors every ceremony, from births to weddings to prayers. Village bards known as griots sing traditional songs and poems of the desert, passing down centuries-old tales, as well as their community’s history. Many Malian musical traditions are derived from the griots, who are known as the “Keepers of Memories”. In this manner, memories were preserved from generation to generation, along with ancient African traditions and ways of life.

In current times, lyrics serve as a source of inspiration and learning, and as a way to pass down morals and values to youths. They have also been used to expose corruption and human rights abuses, and have helped eradicate stigmas and given a voice to the poor. Mali is considered one of the best places in the world for music lovers and performers.

“Music regulates the life of every Malian,” says Malian musician and producer Cheich Tidiane Seck. “From the cradle to the grave. From ancient times right up to today.” National Geographic states that, “Music is at the heart of life in Mali, intrinsically connected to everything.”

“In northern Mali, music is like oxygen,” said Baba Salah, one of northern Mali’s most-respected musicians. “Now, we cannot breathe.”

Musicians in Mali are fighting back. The war in Mali is being waged on two very different fronts. In the north, the military operations continue, with French-led troops retaking towns from Islamist rebels. Meanwhile, a cultural offensive is taking place, in which Mali’s celebrated musicians are hitting back against the Islamist imposition of Sharia law and the banning of music.

“Mali has been a shining light of African culture and especially music, because of the seamless fusion of traditional with modern influences combined with a tolerant cultural environment. The tradition can be traced back to the days of the Mali Empire, where griots sang the praises of kings and noblemen. That rich musical history is now threatened since Islamists overrun the north of the country and turned off the music, literally,” writes Billie Odidi for Africa Review.

The current conflict has threatened music throughout Mali, forcing the renowned Festival in the Desert to go into exile. Festival director Manny Ansar is among those speaking out against the music ban and in support of his country’s culture. “Music really has a special place in Malian society,” says Ansar. “It’s more power than law. It’s a kind of social law, sometimes more strong than the political or social law. Everything is transmitted in Mali through music, through poetry.”

Manny Ansar adds that “it’s through our music that we know history and our own identity. Our elders gave us lessons through music. It’s through music that we declare love.”

Festivals have always been a part of the Tuareg’s nomadic lifestyle, providing a place to share stories, race camels, stage sword fights, settle scores, make policy, and play music. For centuries these gatherings have provided an invaluable opportunity for the nomadic tribes to meet and celebrate with various forms of song, dance, poetry, games, and other ancient cultural traditions.

The Festival in the Desert was founded on the Tuareg (Tamashek) tradition of nomadic clans meeting up in the cooler dry season, to celebrate their culture, their music, and their stories from their year’s wanderings. Over the years, the Festival In The Desert has branched out to represent all the communities and extraordinarily rich musical traditions of the desert, of Mali, and of the region as a whole. It is one of the most unique and respected music festivals in the world.

The main purpose of the festival is to promote peace through music by bringing people together, regardless of origin and religious beliefs. The festival was an example of how music and art can transcend differences and find common appreciation. The festival showcases the diversity and the mutual tolerance that’s always been a fundamental part of Mali’s musical culture.

The Festival in the Desert was started in 2001. It was initially envisioned in the 1996 event “Flame of Peace,” in which 3000 guns were publicly burned to signify the beginning of the reconciliation between the nomadic and sedentary communities of the southern Sahara.

From 2001 to 2008 the festival was located at Essakane, a remote oasis village northwest of Timbuktu. The area is covered in rolling white sand dunes, and surrounded by rocky hills. Because of growing insecurity in the area, the festival has been held at the ancient city of Timbuktu since 2009.

The Festival of the Desert is Mali’s number one tourist attraction, bringing people from around the world together for three nights of communal celebrations in the beauty and simplicity of the desert outside of Timbuktu, a city founded over the centuries on the trade of goods and ideas between the north and south. It is cited by many as one of the world’s top 25 festivals.

The festival features musicians from Mali, Mauritania, Niger and many other countries. “It is Africa’s version of Woodstock, Coachella, and Burning Man all combined into one spectacle, an experience not to be missed,” described an American visitor.

Cultures of Resistance attended the Festival in the Desert in 2009, and produced a short video called “Playing for Peace in the Sahara”. They describe how “in the Malian desert, musicians meet to build mutual respect by sharing cultures. Artists share their music and dance to emphasize what they have in common, rather than what separates them. This short film highlights the event’s approach to promoting cross-cultural expression as a means of overcoming the threat of divisive conflict.”

“When you have peace, you have everything.”

The 2013 edition of the Festival in the Desert will be a touring Caravan of Peace, called the Festival in the Desert in Exile. It will be a caravan of artists promoting peace and national unity in Mali, travelling from Mauritania to Mali and onto the Tuareg refugee camps in Burkina Faso. The caraval will last from February 7th to March 6th 2013. It begins in Kobeni, Mauritania (15 km from the border with Mali) in the southern Sahel desert. On February 14th they join the Festival of Segou in Segou, Mali. And on February 16th they join the Festival of Mali in Bamako, Mali.

February 20-22, the traditional three days of the Festival in the Desert, will take place in Oursi, Burkina Faso. Then at the beginning of March, they will join the International Festival of Selingue in Selingue, Mali.

They state that, “Despite our present ‘exiled’ status from Timbuktu, in proud nomadic tradition, we will embark on a 2013 caravan of artists, fans, and festivals uniting for Peace, Tolerance, and Human Dignity. The tour will begin in the Sahel region of Africa, and then travel internationally until we are able to return to our homeland in peace and freedom of expression.”

“As an ambassador for peace, internationally known Malian artist Oumou Sangare will lead a stalwart line-up of African musicians in one of two caravans that make up the 2013 Festival in the Desert in Exile,” writes Ariel Bleth for Ethical Traveler. The caravans will include artists from Morocco, Mauritania, Algeria, Niger, and throughout Mali.

“Peace and tolerance, now more than ever, has become an absolute emergency. This is the message we want to pass among ourselves first and then to others throughout the rest of the world who share with us the same values. The brute sound of weapons and the cries of intolerance are not able to silence the singing of the griots or the sound of the Imzad (violin) and the Tinde (drum),” say the festival organizers.

The Festival in the Desert is considered Africa’s top music festival, followed by Mali’s other big music festival: the Festival on the Niger, which was recently cancelled for 2013, and is being replaced by two components: an international gathering on “Culture and Governance”, and art exhibitions with a theme of “Peace and Social Cohesion”.

The organizers explained that in, “solidarity with our defense and security forces involved in the liberation of our country, the Festival on the Niger Foundation decided to turn the 9th edition of the Festival on the Niger into a special one, with the theme of “Cultures in Resistance for Peace and Reconciliation.”

It is not only music that is being threatened in northern Mali. Timbuktu is home to hundreds of thousands of Africa’s most treasured ancient manuscripts dating back to as early as the 11th century, and covering such subjects as mathematics, astronomy, medicine, grammar, agriculture, poetry, rhetoric, law, politics, philosophy, and theology. Most of the manuscripts predate the arrival of Europeans on the African continent, about the same time that the oldest universities in the English-speaking world, Oxford and Cambridge, were established. At that time, Timbuktu was a thriving intellectual city of more than 20,000 scholars, several universities, and hundreds of libraries. Timbuktu’s books and tombs have also been destroyed by the Islamist fighters.

But international attention has focused on the plight of Mali’s music, which has given so much to the world. The Glastonbury Festival announced Rokia Traore as the first named act on their 2013 line-up, with other Malian artists to perform each day. And there are concerts taking place around the world raising awareness of what is happening in Mali. As Traore warned: “If it can happen in Mali, it can happen anywhere.”