The first episode of the new Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey show, delves into the history of the planet
earth, its beginnings, its recent discoveries, and a glimpse of its future from
a scientific perspective. Although, it is a show based on scientific
breakthroughs and theories, in my opinion the general “tone” pertaining
humanistic values in terms of finding that our place in the universe is so small
is surprisingly optimistic. Moreover, in my opinion it depends how you look at it,
because to some it may give the impression that there is a notion of humanistic
devaluation, nevertheless I perceived that the message that the show is trying
to convey is that as humans we need to dig deeper into ourselves in order to
understand our place in the cosmos and in that way obtain a realistic view of
our species in comparison to our vast universe, in order to further our knowledge
and expand our minds. As it was illustrated in the episode, throughout history various
religious and political institutions have oppressed and persecuted people who
dared to think outside the box such as Giordano Bruno, a man who had no tangible
evidence that there was more to explore beyond our planet earth yet he was
still inclined to defy traditional beliefs in search of the truth. As it was
stated in the show, he was not a scientist or a scholar but he had the natural
human drive and desire to want to learn more about the world he lived in, and
was a able to form a theory which was later on proved to be correct. His
martyrdom and commitment to his beliefs is an example of the human potential,
hunger, and passion that is instinctual in humanity as well as a basis of
humanism, which places an emphasis on human attributes and qualities.
Therefore, I do not support the notion that the show is “antagonizing
humanistic values”, but instead it is rather appreciating the merits of both,
as well as trying to inspire the viewers to ascertain a realistic perspective
of the world around us by employing our highly developed aptitude and skills.
Furthermore, I do not agree with Edward Rothstein’s view that
“the insignificance of human existence is one of the fearsome lessons of modern
science” (Rothstein, emphasis added), because science should not be depicted as
an enemy but instead be used as a tool and a way to explore further into the
significance of the existence of humanity since after all it is a field that
strives to understand the origins of the human race but just from a different
standpoint. After all, science is a discipline that strives to understand the
world based on speculation, research, and evidence, therefore any scientific exhibition
is going to reflect its perceptible and definite approach to any matter at
hand, moreover it is up to the individual to absorb, interpret and use the
scientific information acquired and implement it on a personal level, in order
to further explore within one’s own self, rather than be judgmental,
pessimistic and dismissive about it. Moreover, after watching this Cosmos episode,
I was amazed by the universe’s extensive history as well as the series of momentous
events that had to take place in order for the human race to thrive, what was
even more intriguing was the way in which it was portrayed in accordance to our
current yearly calendar. Furthermore, I was inspired to investigate as well as
learn more about the local group and the
Virgo super cluster two topics that were mentioned briefly discussed but I
had never heard of before, and are worth learning about because not only are
they full of wonder and beauty but also because the planet earth is part of
this larger network of heavenly existence.
