SPACE TRAVEL FOR ALL LEADERS?

“I believe that if the political leaders of the world could see their planet from a distance, their outlook would be fundamentally changed”

- Michael Collins, Apollo 14.

Today, marks yet another important date in the commercial space flight calendar. We are set to see Blue Origin’s New Shepard rocket launch into the ‘heavens’ (flight delayed to Saturday), sending with it a crew of six commercial astronauts to cross the Karmen line, into space. The vehicle “New Shepard” is named after NASA astronaut, Alan Shepard, who in 1961 became the first American to fly into space. The travellers boarding this flight include: Good Morning America co-anchor Laura Shepard Churchley (the eldest daughter of Alan Shepard) and Michael Strahan, entrepreneur and philanthropist Dylan Taylor, investor Evan Dick, and finally the first parent-child duo to fly in space, Lane Bess (Bess Ventures founder) and Cameron Bess.

This journey is likely to be a life-changing event that affords the New Shepard crew a glimpse of the planetary perspective and offers them a flirt with the Overview Effect, a term coined by Rhodes Scholar and space philosopher Frank White in 1987 in his book, The Overview Effect: Space Exploration and Human Evolution.

The Overview Effect is a term that gave form to the psychological and emotional effects brought about by a relatively new experience for humankind, seeing the Earth from orbit, on the moon, or in Space. Many professional astronauts and cosmonauts have given testimony to the profound effects of the planetary perspective and indeed have gone on to become humanitarians or environmental activist afterwards, and some even say that the environmental movement was spearheaded by the Apollo program and iconic pictures like the Earthrise photo.

Astronauts gain an opportunity to experience the profound beauty, wholeness, and interconnectedness of our home planet and develop a deeper understanding of the miracle of life, and the uniqueness of our existence. They recognize that, as humans, our commonalities far outweigh our differences. This awe-inspiring perspective reframes their understanding of the Cosmos, and their relationship with our home planet and each other.

“On my first flight I was already aware how small and fragile our Planet is. But it was only after I saw her inexpressible beauty and vulnerability I realized that the most important task for humanity is to care for her and to preserve her for future generations.”

Sigmund Jähn, Salijoet

Whilst we recognise that space exploration will not save us from ourselves, if this unique experience can affect beliefs, schemas, or worldviews, then the impact of the Overview Effect goes beyond the personal to the social. It deepens the cognitive, emotional and spiritual connection with nature and our Planet. Over the past century, space exploration has also helped advanced scientific knowledge and in subtle and obvious ways influenced our daily lives, offering technical and scientific solutions to everyday Earthling challenges. Looking ahead, space travel could also help address global challenges facing the world today, such as food shortages, terrestrial and ecological damage caused by agriculture, cataclysmic disaster, humanitarian crises, as well as the management of natural and environmental resources. From this basis, we believe that both the positive and negative impact of space travel should be up for discussion in different social arenas.   

Beyond the benefits listed above, the planetary perspective and the Overview Effect is relevant to the world of leadership because of the way it can encourage a type of altered awareness of ourselves, other people, and the world.

EARTHLINGS AND GLOBAL CHALLENGES

Most people agree that the world is in disarray. Amidst the chaos, we everyday Earthlings often feel powerless, muddling around in a bid to create a semblance of normality. As the years pass us by, the extent and magnitude of environmental issues have become painfully clear, indicating that there is something fundamentally wrong with how we view and relate to the natural world. Our eyes have been opened and there is a growing consensus that change is urgent and necessary. But what does this change entail? Whilst certain strategic environmental interventions have proved to be relatively successful, there is a degree of inertia and paralysis due to the breadth and severity of the problem. Most of us realise that the crisis demands a larger-scale solution, but we are unsure which global strategies will be most effective and how to go about implementing them.

The Covid-19 pandemic has swept across the world, and serves as another reminder that our incessant disregard and degradation of the natural world has stark consequences. The recent Omicron variant has demonstrated how the “survival of the fittest'' mindset does not work in the face of today’s global climate and challenges. Our inability to share the vaccines globally, with some countries stockpiling supplies, has afforded the virus the time to mutate, strengthen and spread. As the saying goes together we rise, divided we fall!

Covid-19, climate change, loss of biodiversity and social and generational inequalities are global challenges that have forced us all to take a long hard look at ourselves, with all of our shortcomings and shadows. We have learnt that our actions have negative consequences on humanity, the natural world, and our planet. Our current plight, although unwelcome, presents an opportunity for positive change. For those of us who are still fortunate enough to be part of this world, we do not want to look back in 50-years’ time, only to see this period as a missed opportunity! 

Any psychologist will tell you that long-lasting behaviour change is dependent on shifts in values and core beliefs. Increasingly we are recognising that in order to create an environmentally sustainable society we need to ensure that social systems, politics, and culture emphasise the wellbeing of the natural world. This will lead to enhanced awareness and connection with the natural world, and eventually result in long-lasting behaviour change and consumption patterns.

PLANETARY AWARENESS FOR A PLANETARY ECONOMY

Often, during times of chaos, we look to those who are in a position of power and authority to lead the way. Dylan Taylor, Executive and Angel investor in the New Space Industry, is one of the commercial astronauts due to launch into space onboard the Shepard rocket.  Taylor recently commented in his blog “with great privilege comes great responsibility”.  This couldn’t be truer in today’s world, leaders are called upon to recognise their influence and how their choices help shape the world. Historically, Kings, Queens, Knights, Monks, and Priests would try to rise to the challenge and decide on the course of action. Leadership in the 21^st century however has taken on an entirely different meaning. Leaders today are our astronauts, scientists, influencers, politicians, executives, CEOs, directors, and entrepreneurs. The days of egotistic leadership, where individuals, groups and departments work in competitive silos, are numbered. The leaders of companies like Google and Spotify have realised that monetary incentives and rewards are much more successful when coupled with a clear eudaemonic mission, and a united and intuitive team. Ultimately, contemporary leaders must take responsibility to promote positive change in the world. A 21st century leader is self-aware and able to shift perspective, a leader who can make difficult choices, is inclusive, someone who can demonstrate prosocial attitudes and is able to prioritise environmental sustainability in corporate decision making. 

VR OVERVIEW EFFECT EXPERIENCE FOR LEADERS

In 2019, Egbert Mulder from Circular Leadership and Dr Annahita Nezami and Charlie Perring from VR Overview Effect joined forces to develop a bespoke VR program and workshops for leaders, called VROEL. This collaboration resulted, amongst other things, in the production of a fully immersive 25-minute multi-sensory program based on the Overview Effect focusing on leadership and sustainability. The VR program combines state of the art virtual reality content, binaural beats, meditation and haptic audio. The experience takes participants on a voyage from the dark side of the moon towards the Earth and takes them around our planet a number of times while listening to the meditative voice of Gaia. On the 1 October 2021 the program was launched in the Netherlands, with over one-hundred leaders experiencing it since, with another major event planned in London in Spring of 2022.

After one recent event, Kate Raworth, a Professor at Cambridge University and author of Doughnut Economy said afterwards:

“We can’t all go into space, but to have this experience is so incredibly important. It is so immersive and awe inspiring. This should be available to all leaders of the world to see because you can only understand the system if you look at it from one layer above it, and that is exactly what this overview experience gives us”.

Until now, less than 600 people have witnessed the planetary perspective, and even fewer The Overview Effect. But what if we could translate this profound experience in a meaningful way for lots of people here on Earth, could it play a pivotal role in cultivating humanitarians who help build a future of sustainable peace and prosperity for all of humanity? Perhaps, as Michael Collins suggested, we can fundamentally change the outlook of the political leaders of the world if they experience the Overview Effect and they may not need to go to space to experience it.