What would the modern human equivalent of seeing the stars for the first time be? I guess we probably wouldn’t really comprehend it even if we had the opportunity.
It really is an experience. I’m from NJ and lived in the NYC metro area for 7 years so I’ve never really seen “true” darkness.
A few years back I went out to Colorado and a few friends and I stayed in a cabin up in The Rocky Mountains. That’s true darkness. On the road up to the cabin we turned the headlights off, got out of the car and you couldn’t see your hands it was so dark. It was cloudy so we couldn’t see much, but it was still pretty awesome to see the stars that bright (when we could).
Yes absolutely. I took a trip out towards the middle of Australia and it was crazy, we don’t even have that much light pollution in our cities but the difference is still massive.
Oh yeah, definitely out there, that’s the epitome of “the middle of nowhere” haha Where we were there was a small community up on the mountain, but nothing that really affected the darkness of what we saw since it was a good mile up the road and it was just house lights.
There definitely are tens of thousands, if not millions of people that have never seen a bright night sky. That’s pretty much the case for anyone that lives in or around NYC. I’d say that’s the case for anyone that lives in or around a big city.
I’m down in Miami now, which is a far cry from NYC, but it’s still pretty bright here and you can’t see much, drive about 30-45 minutes west to The Everglades and that’s a different story though.
Many astronauts say seeing the earth from space is a similar transcendent moment. Especially the Apollo astronauts who could see the entire earth at once .
I’ve always been sorta jealous of people with synaesthesia. I imagine there’s probably some weird downsides but I’d love to experience it. Just, like, something dumb like what color is my favorite song, or what does 4 smell like?
My SO has some mild synesthesia, mostly just lights having a “sound”. Like, our neighbor had some really obnoxiously bright flashing christmas lights that were allegedly quite loud. He “heard” something akin to a tiny truck backing up whenever he glanced out the window at the wrong time. He almost always knows if it’s a real sound or a synesthesia “sound”, though there have been a couple of occasions when he has had to ask me if i hear stuff while watching a show or movie that warranted an epilepsy warning. Sometimes he’ll get a smell when listening music that makes him nostalgic, too, but that’s only happened once or twice.
I live in a place with very little light pollution, and I can confirm - seeing our arm of the Milky Way, stretched across the night sky, in all its glory is amazing.
I’ve taken many people out of the city to watch the Perseid meteor shower. You have to drive a few hours to get far enough away, so not always easy to convince people.
It’s always fun creating that memory when you get one that has never seen the Milky Way. It can be an eye opening experience and I highly recommend everyone do it at least once in their life.
Being able to see the full spectrum of colors that actually exist in the world. Every very rare once in a while someone is born with more cones in their eyes, which allows them to see more. The rest of us, though, will never know.
What would the modern human equivalent of seeing the stars for the first time be? I guess we probably wouldn’t really comprehend it even if we had the opportunity.
Seeing the stars in a properly dark area, maybe?
It really is an experience. I’m from NJ and lived in the NYC metro area for 7 years so I’ve never really seen “true” darkness.
A few years back I went out to Colorado and a few friends and I stayed in a cabin up in The Rocky Mountains. That’s true darkness. On the road up to the cabin we turned the headlights off, got out of the car and you couldn’t see your hands it was so dark. It was cloudy so we couldn’t see much, but it was still pretty awesome to see the stars that bright (when we could).
Yes absolutely. I took a trip out towards the middle of Australia and it was crazy, we don’t even have that much light pollution in our cities but the difference is still massive.
Oh yeah, definitely out there, that’s the epitome of “the middle of nowhere” haha Where we were there was a small community up on the mountain, but nothing that really affected the darkness of what we saw since it was a good mile up the road and it was just house lights.
There are probably people that have never really seen the stars and it will probbaly only get worse. It’s honestly sad.
It makes me think of the Overview Effect.
There definitely are tens of thousands, if not millions of people that have never seen a bright night sky. That’s pretty much the case for anyone that lives in or around NYC. I’d say that’s the case for anyone that lives in or around a big city.
I’m down in Miami now, which is a far cry from NYC, but it’s still pretty bright here and you can’t see much, drive about 30-45 minutes west to The Everglades and that’s a different story though.
Many astronauts say seeing the earth from space is a similar transcendent moment. Especially the Apollo astronauts who could see the entire earth at once .
This is the Overview Effect.
I’ve always been sorta jealous of people with synaesthesia. I imagine there’s probably some weird downsides but I’d love to experience it. Just, like, something dumb like what color is my favorite song, or what does 4 smell like?
My SO has some mild synesthesia, mostly just lights having a “sound”. Like, our neighbor had some really obnoxiously bright flashing christmas lights that were allegedly quite loud. He “heard” something akin to a tiny truck backing up whenever he glanced out the window at the wrong time. He almost always knows if it’s a real sound or a synesthesia “sound”, though there have been a couple of occasions when he has had to ask me if i hear stuff while watching a show or movie that warranted an epilepsy warning. Sometimes he’ll get a smell when listening music that makes him nostalgic, too, but that’s only happened once or twice.
Do lots of LSD.
If you really want to, try taking some psychedelics.
Boob gazing the very first time.
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https://darksitefinder.com/maps/world.html#2/25.0/-36.6
I live in a place with very little light pollution, and I can confirm - seeing our arm of the Milky Way, stretched across the night sky, in all its glory is amazing.
I’ve taken many people out of the city to watch the Perseid meteor shower. You have to drive a few hours to get far enough away, so not always easy to convince people.
It’s always fun creating that memory when you get one that has never seen the Milky Way. It can be an eye opening experience and I highly recommend everyone do it at least once in their life.
Being able to see the full spectrum of colors that actually exist in the world. Every very rare once in a while someone is born with more cones in their eyes, which allows them to see more. The rest of us, though, will never know.
Maybe seeing wavelengths we can’t normally see, like IR and UV? Would be pretty cool.