Carl Sagan - Pale Blue Dot on HackerTube: recommended by 5 Hacker News commenters across 5 separate months, 2011–2026.
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Carl Sagan's narration of the Pale Blue Dot passage, reflecting on the Voyager photograph of Earth as a tiny speck in space. It is a short meditation on humanity's smallness and shared home.
HN commenters return to it for perspective, comfort and Sagan's soothing voice, and suggest watching it periodically.
“Puts everything in perspective, and makes everything feel insignificant”
15 Hacker News comments link this video. Each one links back to its thread.
James May of Top Gear has flown with a U2 spy plane once [0][1]. When they reached to the edge of space, May said "If everybody could do that once, it would completely change the face of global politics, religion, education, everything". I can't agree more. Another thing I believe needs to be watched periodically is Pale Blue Dot [2]. [0]: [link] [1]: [link] [2]: ▶ this video
in “Artemis II is not safe to fly” · View on HN
Ah, legacy. It always makes me happy to listen to Carl Sagan's words on his text "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 at 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. Our posturings, our imagined self-importance, the delusion that we have some privileged pos
in “I’ve had the same supper for 10 years” · View on HN
I'm sorry for your loss. When something bad happens I often find myself going back to Carl Sagan's words on the Pale Blue Dot [0]. Puts everything in perspective, and makes everything feel insignificant, when compared with the vastness of what lies out there. [0] ▶ this video
in “Depressed People See the World More Realistically (2017)” · View on HN
I really loved the Pale blue dot by Carl Sagan. His voice is soo smooth and relaxing that sometimes I just hear it for his voice even though the content is nothing less than amazing. P.S. Unfortunately Sagan died before the book recording could be completed so some chapters are in a different voice. Still, listening to it is real zen like. Here is a sample[1] [1] ▶ this video
in “Ask HN: Which audiobooks did/do you like?” · View on HN
Here's a YouTube link to the entire Pale Blue Dot bit by Sagan: ▶ this video Sagan is absolutely amazing. It really does put things in perspective.
in “The Size of the Human Radio-Broadcast Bubble in the Milky Way Galaxy” · View on HN
Why do this? Why look to space and understand Earth's smallness? So we can understand reality as Carl Sagan explains in his pale blue dot speech. ▶ this video
in “NASA Artemis II moon mission live launch broadcast” · View on HN
I'm hoping some of you can shed light on a few questions. It could be I've misunderstood what is meant by AGI. I thought AGI means an "agent" that can reason, strategize, solve problems, make judgments under uncertainty, apply common sense knowledge, learn, adapt, and alter its goals. With that in mind, I'm wondering: * Why would an AGI (malevolent or otherwise) risk war when there's an entire galaxy[1] they can explore and countless planets full of resources that they could use? * How can we ascribe super-human reasoning skills to an AGI in one breath, yet think the AGI would be content with making paper clips, collecting stamps, or smashing vases while cleaning, until heat death of the Universe in the next? * My limited understanding of warfare is that wars are sparked over resources or ideology (or both). Ideological differences notwithstanding, what resources are specific to Earth that humans and AGIs would have in contention? * Earth is only going to be habitable for another 500 million years before the Sun's expansion extinguishes most biological organisms (unless the planet's orbit is shifted). Wouldn't an AGI (abiotic or otherwise) be thinking in timelines that vastly outstrip our own? * In light of the previous answers, what purpose (end goal) do you imagine an AGI would give itself? * Why would that purpose involve enslaving or destroying humanity? Pointers to research papers would be most welcome (e.g., Von Neumann–Morgenstern utility theorem). [1]: ▶ this video (Pale B
in “An Appeal to AI Superintelligence: Reasons to Preserve Humanity” · View on HN
> rock in space. What do you think Earth is? It is even less than a rock: looking from some distance, it is just a pale blue dot ▶ this video
in “Soyuz module on International Space Station is leaking something” · View on HN
>> In 2015, NASA acknowledged the 25th anniversary of the photograph. Ed Stone, Voyager project scientist, commented: “Twenty-five years ago, Voyager 1 looked back toward Earth and saw a "pale blue dot", an image that continues to inspire wonderment about the spot we call home.” Carl Sagan: Pale Blue Dot - ▶ this video _________ Few videos of Ed Stone online: - [link] And here’s an interview with him too: - [link]
in “Edward Stone retires after 50 years as NASA Voyager’s project scientist” · View on HN
> Because if the current atheist world is the real one, then we are doomed. We are in the death world. Game over. Thats it. All evidence points that this is true so far. What is wrong with that? It doesn't mean life doesn't matter. This passage from Carl Sagan's Pale Blue Dot comes to mind: ▶ this video
in “I’m taking some time away from Comma” · View on HN
> It has been said that astronomy is a humbling and character-building experience. - Carl Sagan, Pale Blue Dot, 1994 Full text, narrated by the man himself: ▶ this video 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. Our posturings, our imagined sel
in “The Last Question by Issac Asimov [pdf]” · View on HN
This war makes me sick and very sad. It reminds me of the pale blue dot quote by Sagan : "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.". ▶ this video
in “Chernobyl power plant captured by Russian forces” · View on HN
Amazing context to just how big the universe is as we kill each other over a tiny part of a ball of rock and dirt. Reminds of Carl Sagan’s, “Pale Blue Dot” ▶ this video
in “Scientists reveal 4.4M galaxies in a new map” · View on HN
Pretty amazing. I couldn't help but remember this yt video(1) by Carl Sagan while zooming out. (1) ▶ this video
in “Show HN: I rebuilt the Flash app “Scale of the Universe” in WebGL” · View on HN
> There's so much out there, just waiting for us to get off our duffs and explore. We have much of the technology; if we could just stop spending trillions on machines of war and instead spend it on machines of exploration.... I agree with this 100%. But while we're moving outward, however slowly, don't forget Sagan's Caveat: "Our planet is a lonely speck in the great enveloping cosmic dark. In our obscurity – in all this vastness – there is no hint that help will come from elsewhere to save us from ourselves. The Earth is the only world known, so far, to harbor life. There is nowhere else, at least in the near future, to which our species could migrate. Visit, yes. Settle, not yet. Like it or not, for the moment, the Earth is where we make our stand." Absolutely, go see what's across the street. But make sure your house is clean and safe. [link] Carl Sagan - Pale Blue Dot ▶ this video
in “Wanderers: a short film of humanity's expansion into the Solar System [video]” · View on HN