When did you discover the Overview Effect?
My first real experience with the Overview Effect dates back to 1996. Concerned by ecological disturbances, I was looking for solutions capable of bringing out a planetary consciousness so that we respect the vessel on which we are all embarked. I was 23 then and had just read Clear Earth, written by a collective of astronauts under the direction of Kevin W. Kelley, who has since become our advisor. The book contained very beautiful photos of the Earth seen from space, but also dazzling texts written by these astronauts. They spoke in a very poetic way of the beauty of the Earth, of planetary consciousness, of their feeling of belonging to a great living whole, and of their conviction of an interconnection between all men and the living. And that's when I discovered this concept of Overview Effect. I understood then that it is by navigating in space that they perceived things that we had trouble apprehending, here below, on Earth. The question then was how to bring this experience to as many people as possible, without sending them into space.
These astronauts would have been deeply transformed internally because of this experience?
Absolutely. These very rational men, however, had little chance of being overwhelmed by their emotions. They had no particular ecological awareness or spiritual concerns. However, this event really touched their hearts and profoundly transformed them. If these people were, it proves that it is also possible to move and transform a large part of the population.
In addition, the Overview Effect would have generated, in them, a very acute sense of responsibility with regard to our planet...
The Overview Effect manifests itself in several ways. It generates, in those who have experienced it, extremely poetic formulations that reflect a very subtle perception of the Earth, perceived as a living being. Like a fragile and unique vessel in the cosmos, on which we are all embarked. A fragile vessel of which the 7,7 billion Earthlings are the stewards. The key notion of interconnection, dear to Buddhists, generated by the Overview Effect is undoubtedly the most complex to grasp. We humans are all dependent on each other. We breathe the same gases, drink the same water, depend on the same resources… If we behave badly towards others, we are the first to be affected by virtue of the golden rule found in all spiritual traditions: "Do not do to others and to the Earth what you would not want done to yourself".
So it was to awaken this feeling so dear to Buddhism of interdependence and belonging to the same vessel that you launched the Blueturn project?
Initially, I developed this vision in my two novels blue century, which tell how the widespread experience of the Overview Effect could change the world. Then, the idea was to try the experiment in the real world and this was indeed the objective of the Blueturn project, launched three years ago on the basis of images from a NASA satellite placed in orbit. in 2015. It is the only one able to take images of the illuminated Earth spinning. I had a feeling that the Overview Effect would be enhanced if we managed to show the Earth in its entirety and its majesty with its shades of color. Thanks to our algorithm technology developed by my friend Michaël Boccara, we made the first video of the Earth seen from space. We broadcast these images of the rotation of the Earth, accompanied by music, so that they generate a hypnotic effect and lead those who view them to be moved.
What is the Planet Heart project that you are going to launch in the spring of 2020?
We would like to allow people, through Planet Heart, to have a very deep experience at home. We worked on the storytelling so that the spectators hear the Earth speaking to them. A renowned American film score composer has created music that aims to arouse a feeling of love in men towards the Earth. After experiencing the Overview Effect, viewers will be able to express their love for Earth by sending her a voice message of love. This will orbit around the Earth in the form of a small love star, a “love star”. The Earth will thus be surrounded by a cohort of stars, each of which will hold the message of a human being. It is about symbolically replacing the negative energy that orbits the Earth with an energy of love that uplifts us and helps heal the Earth. Planet Heart will also make it possible to live an immersive experience plunging people into the heart of the Earth, the "Planet Heart", an underground digital cave bathed in very meditative music and where all the love stars that will be stored will be stored. will have been posted by mankind. It will be possible to evolve by immersing oneself in this cave, thus provoking extremely strong feelings in those who will live this experience.
“The Overview Effect generates, in those who have experienced it, extremely poetic formulations that reflect a very subtle perception of the Earth, perceived as a living being. Like a fragile vessel, of which the 7,7 billion Earthlings are the stewards. »
Moreover, in order to live an adventure that is not individual but collective, an algorithm will work, every hour, and will make it possible to position all the people connected around the Earth in a circle. This circle will be preceded by a musical introduction inducing cardiac coherence to be in an optimum state of reception and emission. Connected humans will thus live a common experience by connecting to the Earth through the heart and will thus find themselves immersed in a synchronous emotional and vibratory state in which everyone can receive and give love, thus amplifying the Overview Effect. It is hoped that the collective effect will thus be multiplied and that Planet Heart will bring the Overview Effect to the scale of the planet. And we'll see if the utopia imagined in my novels blue century take shape or not. I firmly believe in it.
In your writings, you mention relationships between the Overview Effect and the legend of Shambhala. What about?
It was a chance encounter – but we know that there is no chance – last spring that allowed me to discover a book that establishes this disturbing link. Shambhala, book published in 1976 by Andrew Tomas by Robert Laffont, imagines a meeting between a man and a Tibetan lama representing this community of enlightened minds which bears the name of Shambhala. With the latter, he visualizes that the problems of humanity will be solved when the vision of the Earth from space will be made possible by the diffusion of images from NASA. The lama also points out that when blue lights dissipate and replace the negative energies that surround the Earth and humans are synchronized by the heart, a change of state of consciousness will occur and a new era will be born from this revolution of the heart. It's disturbing, because that was exactly the intention of the Planet Heart project, without my ever knowing either this book or this legend, dear to the Buddhist Joanna Macy, initiator of ecopsychology. I am convinced that this is a path that could bring peace on Earth and harmony between people and the Earth. So let's try it, all together and see you in spring 2020 on Planet Heart!