The Overview Trigger

The world changed in 1968 when one of the crew members aboard the Apollo 8, while orbiting the Moon, turned his camera towards the Earth and took the first picture of our world in it’s entirety.
The world had seen maps and globes that modeled the earth before but we had never seen a representation devoid of national boundaries. A representation of the natural world that we live and die in, without distinction in caste, creed, religion or nationality. This single picture changed our perspective about who we are and who we associate ourselves with. We were no longer different people vying for dominance and power over each other but rather one humankind helping each other. We no longer saw the world as a zero sum game where others have to lose in order for us to win. Colloquially this feeling and perspective is known as the astronaut overview effect. The picture taken from the lunar orbit first started the phenomenon and the internet has solidified it in our minds as a reality.
I feel really excited as I see people around the world coming together and trying to solve issues that plague the world today. Initially they had tools such as the world wide web that allowed them to communicate with each other on a peer to peer basis without boundaries or intermediaries but it was initially not possible to transfer value over the internet without an intermediary. However now a new generation of tools is emerging in the form of cryptocurrencies and decentralized online financial markets. Where anyone who has the capability to solve a problem can do it and be rewarded for it, without the need for an authority or a central governing body.
We are in the third phase of the revolution started by that picture from Apollo 8. In this phase we go from having national identity and prejudice to being a citizen of a united earth. This revolution promises to bring financial and economic prosperity to the worst suffering regions of the planet and help bring their populace into the system as contributing members. Imagine how many thinkers, scientists and engineers are lost in each generation due to starvation and the lack of opportunity to pursue their dreams. How many Einsteins we have lost because they can’t afford to go to a school and instead have to walk two days to get clean drinkable water for themselves and their family. This new technology brings us a promise to allow them to feed themselves. Human intellect is the greatest resource of this era and we are striving so that the world will not be deprived of the genius of these lost children. Imagine the sort of progress we’ll see in the next 50 years. Imagine the world we will be in. And the best thing is that anyone can play their part in it, even you.