29 votes

William Shatner: My trip to space filled me with ‘overwhelming sadness’

4 comments

  1. lou
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    What a beautiful thing I just read, even more special coming from Shatner. Thank you.

    What a beautiful thing I just read, even more special coming from Shatner. Thank you.

    7 votes
  2. balooga
    (edited )
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    Thank you for posting this! I agree, it was beautiful and moving in a way I didn't expect from something so short (and from Shatner, of all people). I loved his description of the little hole in...

    Thank you for posting this! I agree, it was beautiful and moving in a way I didn't expect from something so short (and from Shatner, of all people). I loved his description of the little hole in the atmosphere left by the wake of the rocket, and the utter dread he felt facing the incomprehensibly enormous, inhospitable universe on the other side.

    I'm 100% for space exploration and colonization. It's essential for our survival as a species, not to mention full of wonder and strange new possibilities. But would I, personally, ever want to live on another world? Not in my lifetime. I can think of few things as simultaneously depressing and terrifying as spending the rest of my days in a settlement on Mars or the moon. Any life-giving value those places can provide to humans will only happen long after I am dead, on the backs of the sacrifices of many generations of pioneers, transforming it into that through pain and grit.

    Or, you know, as the old reddits used to say: Born too late to explore the world; born too soon to explore the galaxy; born just in time to browse dank memes. 🥳

    6 votes
  3. Grendel
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    Um.... wow. I really wasn't expecting that. That was a fantastic and authentic interview. It even felt vulnerable. When I heard about that space trip I kind of rolled my eyes at the "rich man...

    Um.... wow.

    I really wasn't expecting that. That was a fantastic and authentic interview. It even felt vulnerable.

    When I heard about that space trip I kind of rolled my eyes at the "rich man space toy" aspect, and including William Shatner seemed like some kind of cliche Easter egg to try and to make it sound "cooler" to everyone.

    That was deep though. I've never seen that side of Shatner, and I'm not sure he's ever shown it before.

    So often when I read the "protecting the earth" rhetoric (which I do support) it feels politicized. It feels trendy, like a band wagon that people want to hop on to so they can show "what crowd" they run with. This is the first statement I've read in a long time that felt more real than that. I could really sense the feelings he described.

    It was genuinely about the earth and humanity as a whole, not just slinging mud or blame to other groups. I wish there were more people speaking like this, in a way that seeks to unite rather than fight.

    Thank you for posting that. It was short, concise, and very moving.

    6 votes
  4. lakhs_24
    (edited )
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    This is an account from actor William Shatner about his experience going into space in Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin space shuttle. I found it particularly touching to read about how he described his...

    This is an account from actor William Shatner about his experience going into space in Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin space shuttle. I found it particularly touching to read about how he described his initial expectations about how he would be in awe and enjoy the thrill of being in space and yet his experience was completely different. It was fascinating to read about how profound this experience was to him in a totally unexpected way and I learned about the "Overview Effect" for the first time.

    5 votes