Astronomy & Cosmology
topic
Astronomy and cosmology as creative inputs provide access to the most perspective-altering facts available about the scale, age, and physical structure of the universe — the astonishing temporal depths of cosmic history, the incomprehensible spatial scales of cosmic structure, the specific physical processes that produced every atom in the periodic table, and the contingent historical processes that produced the specific local conditions permitting the existence of life and mind.
Role
Astronomy and cosmology are the creative inputs that most reliably produce the awe-based perspective shift — the cognitive experience of 'small self' relative to cosmic scale that Dacher Keltner's research identifies as one of the most health-promoting, creativity-enhancing, and pro-social emotional experiences available. The specific facts of cosmic scale and temporal depth produce a quality of perspective and wonder that no human-scale experience comparably provides, and that reliably expands the creative mind's sense of what is possible and what matters.