Over Veteran’s Day weekend, I was honored to appear on The Space Show, hosted by Dr. David Livingston. If you have never listened to the program, you should give it a try. It is online at www.thespaceshow.com. David brings in a variety of great guests from the space community, and he is a thoughtful and informed interviewer. I had not appeared since the founding of the Overview Institute, when I appeared with my colleagues, David Beaver and Alex Howerton.

This was a wonderful opportunity to bring people up to date on the progress of the Institute, as well as the upcoming world premiere of the film “Overview,” the revision of The Overview Effect for a third edition, and my work with Space Synapse, a company that is devoted to communicating the Overview Effect message through a variety of media.

Listeners sent in a number of emails and made some perceptive phone calls. Bob Krone, provost of the Kepler Space Institute (KSI), emailed to remind us that I have developed a course on the Overview Effect for KSI, and that they have recently started a space philosophy journal.

I want to thank David Livingston for inviting me on his program, and my all veterans (including my father and grandfather) for their service. My hope is that, as more people hear the message of the Overview Effect, we will have fewer wars, but we should continue to honor those who gave of themselves for us.

To listen to our discussion, click here to download the audio file.

When I first came upon Frank's book in the school library in the early 1990's I felt like someone had finally put to words the part of space that I was most excited about. I read it cover to cover and took it up as an explanation of the huge promise of space, its ability to transform our current level of thinking from the level of nation states to the level of planets. I am still inspired about it to this day.

Our ancestors have looked up at the night sky in wonder for thousands of years. In modern times we've learned that we share the same sky with the rest of the spherical world we live on, one people living under the same blanket of stars. The Overview Effect now conveys a complimentary and even more direct message from the perspective of space. The Overview Effect is an essential element in the attraction of our move off our planet, one that demonstrates with ease and clarity the fragility of our home and the need to work together to preserve it.

Like the universal attraction to the starry sky that encircles us all, the Overview Effect is a message that resonates with people regardless of geographic, political or cultural identification. As humanity increasingly moves into space, the Overview Institute will foster this vision of hope, engaging the majority of humanity that, while remaining Earthbound, continues to view the stars from below and travel into space in spirit.

Those people who have traveled into space have had the benefit of seeing the Earth from a unique perspective. To see the planet from an extraterrestrial perspective reveals a fragile spaceship protected by a thin atmosphere. Many who have had the privilege to experience this view have returned with a new sense of purpose and perceptive that is more global, more spiritual, and more humane.

By working to achieve the goals set forth through the Overview Institute, we hope to expand the ability for the global community to see the Earth through a new lens and experience the evolution in consciousness that often takes place.

In the not so distant future, we can achieve the prediction of the late Krafft Ehricke who observed, "Perhaps as we place the extraterrestrial domain into the service of all people, we may be permitted to hope for the greatest benefit of all: that the cheapness of opportunism and all else that is small, narrow, contemptible and repulsive becomes more apparent and far less tolerable from the vantage point of the stars than it ever was from the perspective of the mud hole." After all, should we not take a cue from the fact that since the beginning, Man has placed his dreams and aspirations among the stars and his nightmares into caves from whence he came.

With all the challenges facing humanity, we know the likely response will be competition between nations, if not outright conflict. The Overview Effect has proven to be a perspective-transforming experience, leading people to clearly appreciate how deeply they are connected to all of humanity and our planet Earth.

It is vital that the Overview Effect be experienced and appreciated by people all across our planet, especially political leaders at the highest levels of national governments, and this is the mission of the Overview Institute. I strongly urge you to support this vision of a united and peaceful world that also benefits our belief in the importance of space exploration and settlement.