Stepping Out

Ann Druyan says, "We have lived under the stars for the vast majority of our experience. Go back the last million years, how much of that time have we been inside in air-conditioned, heated, hermetically sealed little boxes? It's very recent, so, naturally, there's a kind of dislocation. ...[I]t seems to be that there's this desire to know what the universe is like. ...[T]his is the mystery that we were all born into" (qtd. in City Dark). Ann is pointing out how we know the stars are above us, we know they are there. However, if we were to go back millions of years ago, we would not make it. We rely, depend, expect, and already know what we think we want and need. We would not make it back then because we hardly see stars in our city, and don't know much about constellations for direction. We just know stars as a glowing gas dot in the sky. She's stating we live in a closed box, therefore we do not know what else is out there. We live in a "sealed little box" but  yet we want to know what the universe is like? We are all born into this mystery because none of us are from a million years ago to know more about the night sky. It's a mystery that has always been right above us literally and is slowly fading away from answers. We all have the same questions and curiosity as others. We're never going to know until we go out and find it. In so many words, we need to step out our box, and explore the beauty of what really is out there.

(City Dark)

According to Ian Cheney, "There is controversy over whether more light leads to less crime, but there is agreement that light seems to make people feel safer, almost like it's built into our genes to move close to the campfire or to the brightest city" (City Dark). This statement is my favorite, because you can really relate and compare to this one. People do feel safer when there's more light. When people are out and about at night, they feel they will not be a victim of any crime when there's light because there will be witnesses. People have it in their head, that criminals will not be willing to commit crimes in a well lit place where others can identify them. This is why they are scared of the dark outside of their secure bases. This is another reason why there are more lights in neighborhoods for an example. People get those motion lights to scare off any criminals or animals that can harm or damage the owners house or property. Business' also use more brighter lights to attract people to get their attention and make them feel safer. Can you imagine if our cities looked like the picture below? Chaos would occur. Nobody would feel safe and society is obviously picking the feeling of being safe over nature (the gorgeous stars).

(City Dark)

 I like how he uses genes, because it's like a metaphor for instinct. Ian Cheney is saying it's an instinct to run to light because it is a secure base. Light is guidance, and as human beings it is our instinct to have guidance.