Our world view - literally how we see the world with our senses - shapes our perception of reality and profoundly effects how we relate to ourselves, each other, and the Earth. The Earthrise photograph was transmitted around the globe after it being shot by the Apollo 8 crew before I was borne, but many alive at the time have claimed that this novel photographic view of the "whole Earth" intuitively communicated the fragility and isolation of our home planet.

Today, the need to both intellectually and emotionally understand the Earth as a interconnected system has never been greater. But the famous photographs from outer space that capture our planet in the visible spectrum tell only part of the story. To get a more comprehensive view of "whole Earth," we can now visualize flows and relationships beyond the scales of everyday perception of space and time. While astronauts have the rare opportunity the experience one version of the "Overview Effect," it immersive environments are beginning to further expand the overview experience to include insights into even more previously unseen phenomena. We are the first generation of humans to have the capabilities to visualize our impact as a global superorganism. Harnessed properly, these remarkable capabilities can serve to cultivate epiphanies of a different sort, helping us more fully appreciate the that we are not just (in the words of Buckminster Fuller) astronauts aboard Spaceship Earth, but a self-conscious species that is integral to a dynamic, living biosphere. This is a unique evolutionary capability, and the extent to which it is used to expand our collective imagination by reflecting on the interdependence of life on Earth will in large part determine the prospects of humanity's success. 

Simulating the Overview Effect through advanced virtual environments offers a glimpse of an introduction towards expanding our awareness that we are part of a larger reality. Driven by the ever increasing capabilities of interactive media, immersive display technologies, computer-generated special effects, 3D graphics hardware, and various sensory apparatus, virtual simulated environments take us seamlessly from this reality to another alternate reality.

But from the perspective of our consciousness, what differentiates the simulated experience from the real experience? A hint is our lifetime of learned expectations. The Overview Effect is a new type reality…an event that as we experience it, we know to be real yet a seemingly surrealistic experience that goes profoundly beyond our lifetime of learned expectations. Simulating the Overview Effect is humankind’s runway to the actual experience enabling all of us – as collective stewards of planet earth – to understand more holistically not only our place in the created universe, but our role as well.

When we gaze upon that awe-inspiring, full-Earth image from Apollo 17, it is no wonder we feel a strong pull of something ineffable, something transcendent. It is a pity, then that that very image, and others like it, which were produced by the highest pinnacle of our technological achievement at the time, are used by some to deride that very technology as the doom of us all. Some champions of technological progress are inclined to call people of that sentiment liberal tree-huggers. Many of those deeply feeling, deeply caring people respond by calling the former crowd cold-warrior planet-destroyers. But the tossing about of such incendiary labels only fans the flame of controversy, and does nothing to mitigate the underlying problems. All this sound and fury, signifying nothing, merely serves to mask the true irony of the situation, which is that, increasingly, the champions of technology and the environmentalists are strong natural allies, and are more often than not, these days, one and the same person.

To be able to find solutions to the grave problems facing us all these days, one must have hope that the problems are indeed solvable. To be able to do that, one must have hope for the future, that solutions are within our grasp, that tomorrow can be better than today. That is one of the prime goals of the Overview Institute: to give us a sense of wholeness, of wonder, of unity on this delicately-balanced, wondrous blue ball of ours, floating in the blackness of space. It is when we perceive this whole, this majestic beauty of the mother of us all, Gaia, that we realize our deep responsibility to use all the technology at our disposal to ameliorate conditions on the planet. We are all in this together, and together, we can rise to the challenges that we ourselves have created. That is the ultimate message of the Overview Institute, and its program of bringing images like the Apollo 17 picture and other advanced simulation technology to bear on the problem of increasing awareness, of fostering a desire to properly care for this beautiful, wonderful planet we call home.

Science today is catching up with ancient philosophers who recognized the interconnectedness of life. Scientists measure energy flow, nutrient cycles and population dynamics to see that changes in one aspect of an ecosystem ripple to affect other aspects. But in our civilized sheltered and frenetic lives, it is hard to see such connections. We drive a car. We drink bottled water. We enjoy our air-conditioned or heated rooms. To us these seem separate things.

But as we reach the edge of space, perceiving the shape of the earth and seeing it's varied hues and textures, forms and shapes, we see that all is connected. This is the gift of the Overview Effect. We return to our primordial roots. We sense the intricacies of nature's networks. Forests connect to deserts. Seas connect to mountains. Rivers connect to lakes. Cities connect to farmland. And in this connectivity we again experience intimacy. Intimacy with nature, intimacy with our fellow human beings, intimacy with ourselves and with existence itself.

Simulation has been a part of the human experience since our remote ancestors painted on the walls of caves to share the excitement of the hunt with those who could not be there.

Over the millennia our tools of expression have evolved to a level of sophistication that the term "virtual reality" is no longer hyperbole. Current technology allows us to communicate with the mass of humanity to share the Overview Effect.

This is especially important as a means to get people to understand how unique and precious our world is. Earth seen from space has no borders and no discernable countries.

Our terrestrial squabbles seem petty indeed in light of the vastness of the universe. The Institute's mission to promote greater space awareness can be an important factor in spreading world peace and helping humanity find its future among the stars.