The Flash Player 8 and a browser with Javascript support are needed.. There is an opinion, common among scientists and
intellectuals, that our Earthly existence is not only rather ordinary, but in
fact, insignificant and purposeless. The late astronomer Carl Sagan typifies
this view in his book "Pale Blue Dot": Because of the reflection of sunlight the
Earth seems to be sitting in a beam of light, as if there were some special
significance to this small world. But it’s just an accident of geometry and
optics. Our posturings, our imagined self-importance, the delusion that we have
some privileged position in the Universe, are challenged by this point of pale
light. Our planet is a lonely speck in the great enveloping cosmic dark. In our
obscurity, in all this vastness, there is no hint that help will come from
elsewhere to save us from ourselves. But perhaps this melancholy assumption,
despite its heroic pretense, is mistaken. Perhaps the unprecedented scientific
knowledge acquired in the last century, enabled by equally unprecedented
technological achievements, should, when properly interpreted, contribute to a
deeper appreciation of our place in the cosmos. In this 60-minute video
documentary we will explore a striking feature of the natural world. A feature
as widely grounded in the evidence of nature as it is wide-ranging in its
implications: the conditions that allow for intelligent life on Earth also make
it strangely well suited for viewing and analyzing the universe. Mankind is
unusually well positioned to decipher the cosmos. To put it more technically,
“measurability” seems to correlate with habitability. But is this correlation
between the existence of complex life and our ability to make scientific
discoveries simply a coincidence or the result of blind chance? Or does it point
to a deeper explanation? The Privileged Planet will examine these questions in a
remarkable search for evidence of design and purpose within the universe.
Utilizing stunning computer animation and the visual archives of NASA, the
Hubble Space Telescope Institute, the European Space Agency, and leading
observatories throughout the world, the program will present a spectacular view
of our planet, galaxy, and the entire cosmos. The result is an extraordinary
documentary and a fascinating look at a timeless question: What is our
significance within the grand scheme of the universe?