Presentation Information
[O2-03]Developing The Great Silence: allowing planetaria to (re)awaken our higher inspirations through awe, by making use of the Overview Effect and Frisson in a shared digital environment
*Léon Snyman1,2 (1. Naval Hill Planetarium (South Africa), 2. African Planetarium Association (South Africa))
Keywords:
Awe,Overview Effect,Frisson,profound experiences
At present Science and Learning in general is under threat internationally from leaders embracing and practicing, what political theorist, William Galston calls the dark passions: anger, fear, domination — and that the way to counter this negative rise is to (re)awaken our higher aspirations.
According to clinical psychologist David Elkin “awe is a lightning bolt that marks in memory those moments when the doors of perception are cleansed and we see with startling clarity what is truly important in life.”
Awe is a complex emotion derived from profound experiences, a stimulus eliciting perceptual vastness and a need for accommodation — an experience that expands our usual convictions resulting in those convictions being updated to accommodate the new experience, which means growth.
And whereas the dark passions are isolating and divisive, awe is what Peter Wehner calls a “pro-social emotion.” There is a move towards thinking of ‘us’ as opposed to merely ’me.’ Albert Einstein in Living Philosophies calls the rational mind “the source of all true art and science. He to whom this emotion is a stranger, who can no longer pause to wonder and stand rapt in awe, is as good as dead: his eyes are closed.”
Although the planetarium can open closed eyes, is it possible for an audience to experience awe (digitally through the Overview Effect and Frisson) resulting in them being open to learning, open to connection to systems beyond our small expanse, and open to foster the realization that we are part of a vast, meaningful universe. The realization of which could give rise to improved well-being and encourage altruism, selflessness, generosity, compassion, and empathy.
And so The Great Silence was conceived: a planned full-dome production that intertwines three timelines concurrently from the Big Bang to the present day to show YOU that all this had to happen for YOU to be HERE and NOW.
YOU matter.
According to clinical psychologist David Elkin “awe is a lightning bolt that marks in memory those moments when the doors of perception are cleansed and we see with startling clarity what is truly important in life.”
Awe is a complex emotion derived from profound experiences, a stimulus eliciting perceptual vastness and a need for accommodation — an experience that expands our usual convictions resulting in those convictions being updated to accommodate the new experience, which means growth.
And whereas the dark passions are isolating and divisive, awe is what Peter Wehner calls a “pro-social emotion.” There is a move towards thinking of ‘us’ as opposed to merely ’me.’ Albert Einstein in Living Philosophies calls the rational mind “the source of all true art and science. He to whom this emotion is a stranger, who can no longer pause to wonder and stand rapt in awe, is as good as dead: his eyes are closed.”
Although the planetarium can open closed eyes, is it possible for an audience to experience awe (digitally through the Overview Effect and Frisson) resulting in them being open to learning, open to connection to systems beyond our small expanse, and open to foster the realization that we are part of a vast, meaningful universe. The realization of which could give rise to improved well-being and encourage altruism, selflessness, generosity, compassion, and empathy.
And so The Great Silence was conceived: a planned full-dome production that intertwines three timelines concurrently from the Big Bang to the present day to show YOU that all this had to happen for YOU to be HERE and NOW.
YOU matter.