LETTER | Life on the pale blue dot or Earth - it's our only home

LETTER | We need to take a moment to contemplate a role that we all share, that is, as inhabitants of Earth.

On a planet where "life" is defined and serves as a reference point for seeking signs of life elsewhere in the universe, and still remains the only known celestial body we call "home”, there are those denied their right to enjoy life.

Don't we remember on Feb 14, 1990, when Voyager 1 captured an image of Earth from six billion km away from the sun? That image is significantly remembered as a valuable scientific discovery that reminded us of Earth's position in the universe.

Astronomer Carl Sagan popularised the image as the “pale blue dot”. Sagan famously said: "Look again at that dot. That's here. That's home. That's us."

With the loss of innocent lives, the destruction of public spaces and properties, and the collapse of significant landmarks, have we truly emphasised the meaning of life on this planet?

We have also agreed that no single country in the world can represent Earth's inhabitants as a whole. Do we forget about the message to extraterrestrial beings in the phonograph record, The Golden Record, sent into space? It compiled beautiful images in various countries, sounds of the earthlings such as birds chirping, laughter, and footsteps, as well as music from different cultures and eras.

We didn't emphasise violence, human greed, and poverty. We only presented Earth as a safe and green home for all its inhabitants.

Therefore, how we present ourselves should be our course of action. Although wars have become a reality in human life, they should only be the last resort to resolve conflicts and the parties involved should minimise loss and destruction.

It's worth appreciating astronomy as a way to contemplate our position in the universe. Sagan once said: "The Earth is a very small stage in a vast cosmic arena. 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.

"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.

"Our posturings, our imagined self-importance, the delusion that we have some privileged position in the universe, are challenged by this point of pale light. 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."

More than 5,000 exoplanets (extrasolar planets are planets outside the solar system) have been discovered; however, no matter how far we explore, Earth remains our home; therefore, let's make it inhabitable like a home - humanity's home.

The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of Malaysiakini.