Carl Sagan, the astronomer and science communicator who helped explain the universe to the masses in his TV series “Cosmos: A Personal Voyage,” wrote this line in his 1985 novel “Contact.” The book focuses on extraterrestrial contact and is centered around protagonist Ellie Arroway, an astronomer who detects a signal from a nearby star she believes could only have been sent by an intelligent civilization. The book raises a fundamental question of our existence: How do we psychologically grapple with our own seeming insignificance in the face of the universe’s vastness? Sagan’s answer, of course, is that we create meaning in our lives through the love we share.
Love
For small creatures such as we the vastness is bearable only through love.
