The Overview Effect: Why We Should Send World Leaders to Space
Anousheh Ansari, the first female private space explorer, believes that if world leaders experienced what she did, they would come up with very different policies.
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Seeing Earth from space is one of the most powerful experiences that a human being can have.
Psychologists have studied the so-called “overview effect,” or the experience of true awe, and measured its impact on human subjects. It turns out to be transformational. Subjects have been found to be more patient, less materialistic, and more willing to volunteer to help others.
That is why Anousheh Ansari, the first female private space explorer, says she believes that world leaders should be made to experience what she saw, and feel what she was feeling. If so, Ansari says, she believes they would see the world in a new lights and, as a result, come up with very different policies.
Watch Ansari in the XPRIZE Insights video here:
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