The “Pale Blue Dot.” Have you seen the picture? A truly beautiful photograph… It’s amazing to realize how tiny the earth is in comparison with the vastness of our solar system — not to mention the universe! To Dr. Carl Sagan this photograph revealed that humanity, the earth, and life itself are all insignificant given the scale of the cosmos. We’re just a tiny blip on the canvas of nature. So he suggested we find meaning and purpose by exploring space, searching for extraterrestrial lifeforms, and colonizing remote planets. Of course this begs the question: how can space exploration (a hopelessly too large task) give meaning?

I’ll never forget Sociology class in college, especially the day the professor taught the

concept of Mores and Social Relativity. “Mores are rules agreed upon by a social group,

including what people hold to be right and wrong,” she said. She went on to explain that since

ideas, beliefs, and behavior vary according to time and place, nothing is really right or wrong;

instead, each group decides what they think is right or wrong, and for them, it is. Those who

break social mores aren’t doing anything intrinsically wrong or evil, they are just “deviants.”

Furthermore, no social group is allowed to question the mores of another social group,

according to this philosophy.