The Human Cosmos - with Jo Marchant

Psychologists have discovered that experiencing awe inspiring moments change us as humans. Planets and stars have been providing many such moments through human history, but new technology might be changing our relationship with the night sky.

From Medieval monks grappling with the nature of time and Tahitian sailors navigating by the stars, to discoveries of how light reveals the chemical composition of the sun and Einstein's work on spacetime, humanity has always been inextricably linked to the wider cosmos.

Humans have been in awe of the cosmos for the last 20,000 years. Our innate relationship with the stars shaped who we are. Our art, religious beliefs, social status, scientific advances and even our biology.

This talk and Q&A was recorded by the Royal Institution on 3 November 2020.

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[handsomeforlaw]

Thank you so much, I hope this can reach a lot of people.
We need to feel more awe!
I live on the western coast of Norway, and can see stars and the milky way most winter nights. But milder temperatures in winter makes for more cloud's, more rain and a lot less chances to see stars. So in a way climate change is keeping us from seeing stars and feeling awe.

[andik]

excellent lecture I'm 60 and still learning thanks to people like you - thank you :)

[ossie]

I was born in 1953 in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. We lived in the country and had no indoor plumbing so I would be out at night pumping water under the stars with no light pollution. While skiing at night one March I fell and shattered both bones in my left leg, and while waiting for the ambulance to arrive I looked at Orion, and still look for him every autumn. Great lecture and I have ordered your book.

[owenmerrick]

The paradox is: I'm watching (and enjoying) this.... on a screen....with a clear and cold night sky one metre away. Very good talk, I'll enjoy the book I'm sure. I'll be back in for tea in a little while.

[ruthlewis]

The modern exploration of the inner universe is the shift that is urgently needed today. If we are to survive we have to turn the focus into ourselves. Jung said it so well when he noted that we will do anything other than look at ourselves. Fear, no doubt of what we'll find there. Indeed, to begin with not to pleasant, but with time, and perseverance, " a silent canyon full of 🌟 stars".

[mariat.lymberis]

Thank you for your sharing your understanding

[Bildungsromancuddy]

Hence the term “Starry Eyed” 🤩

The feeling of Awe

[matthewmcguire]

Excellent talk. Informative and inspiring. I might well buy the book as treat to myself :) Thanks Jo and the RI.

[kagannasuhbeyoglu]

The Ri, thanks for this enlightening and awareness video👍
Happy new year.
Love from Göbeklitepe :)

[HeilTec]

Wonderfully Awesome!

The wonders of the heavens puts us in awe,
reducing the ego and enhancing the empathy.


The toil of existence dulls our curiosity,
focusing on self at the cost of others.

Awe and Wonder.

[entertainingasap]

Thankuu for most valuable information😊

[NomadUniverse]

Does there happen to be a transcript of this available? I have a friend I am trying to motivate right now, she's not in a good place. I think some of the comments about awe may help her. As I find her awesome but she does not find herself even close in the slightest. The quotes will help me explain what I feel when I look at her in awe, and somewhat more effectively than my efforts so far, I hope.

If not, I will sit here and dictate it to quote. It's kinda that important to me.

[MrSurferDoug]

Just ordered the book. Looking forward to reading it.

[deeprecce]

Great Presentation coupled with a great soothing voice...nicely done👍👍

[jhun]

Very well done, enjoyed the knowledge bomb!

[bobaldo]

Interesting subject! I have often been in awe of the astronomical observations, and the seeming obsessions with same evinced by our ancestors of many thousands of years ago the world over. (On a trivial note, every time she says the word, "awe". the subtitles, which just happened to be switched on, spell out "ore", or "are", etc. They never get the right word)

[mariat.lymberis]

Brilliant ...
The use of METAPHORS are expressions of the evolutionary capacity of the human brain for ABSTRACTION which is the essence of science... it is based on the capacity of brain for cognitive function ... Yes “our fate is in the START”....but human life depends on The state of human health...

[vladimirp]

Firstly, it is absolutely important to consider such ancient civikizations as Egyptian, Mayan and Babylonian, also Indian as well, as a places, where sky science had rapidly developed and was in a priority because of it significance and practical use, needed for prediction of kings fate, wars, crops etc, on other hand, astronomy records are mostly like a wonder, relic from the past, actually thats how we can trace the wisdom of people, with all its mysteries, what inspired us even nowdays to study lost knowledge. I don't think all the history of astronomy worth to be learned, but in particular ancient Egyptian is very interesting, it can be called "the heyday" of ancient astronomy. Secondly, we have evidence, that ancient civilizatiins were contacted with aliens, and some proofs in form of drawings, records and texts, some people assume, that there were some exchange with secret knowledge between us and them and that helped, especially to egyptians to acquire a high level of culture and art, even to build pyramids.

[brucereed]

What do the stars tell us about a cycle of catastrophe? I’ve heard of cycles that are aligned with the galactic year.

[OjaswiOm-yu]

Is anything even worth it? What happens when I die? Will anyone remember me on the cosmic scale? Will anybody be remembered, for that matter?

Among the 113 Billion people to have ever lived, only a handful are remembered today... What happened to the rest? An entire species on neanderthals went extinct, and no one has anything to show for them. Life if meaningless, and it starts having meaning once you realize the fact that it's meaningless.