LOST IN THE COSMOS? Bill Dillinger on the universality of male and female

My second grade daughter was looking at a book about space exploration last night and said "Dad, do you want to see a picture of an outer space toilet?" She presented me the book opened to a picture of a toilet on a space station. Being eight years old, she thought that was very funny. On the opposing page I saw another picture that was interesting and profound. It was of a plaque installed on the Pioneer 10 space probe launched in 1973 that has since left the solar system. It depicted a schematic of the location of our home in the galaxy. It also included a drawing of a naked man and woman. I looked at the picture for a few moments. Here was a message we were sending to whoever might find it, about where our home is and who we are. It was a simple statement we made to the universe. Today, make that same simple statement and you risk public condemnation. The radio signals from Pioneer have fallen silent and the probe is lost. But perhaps it is we who are lost instead.
posted by Eve at 11:28 PM VOTE

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