After you watch it through again, ponder the following words by the famous philosopher and mathematician Blaise Pascal:
Man is equally incapable of seeing the nothingness from which he emerges and the infinite in which he is engulfed...The eternal silence of these infinite spaces fills me with dread.
Did you have a similar reaction while watching the opening scene? What, if anything, do you think the 'silence of the infinite spaces' has to do with religion? Describe the effect the scene had on you, and comment on what reaction you think the director was trying to evoke.
I didn't feel filled with 'dread' so much as amazed and almost bewildered by our infinitesimal place in the universe, and how little of an impact our species, let alone our planet, has on the infinite amount of space and possibilities that are out there. I think that the 'silence of the infinite spaces' could be considered the base of the entire concept of religion. People created religion because they needed an explanation for what had been confounding and simply unknown at the time, which is exactly what the idea of outer space was, and still is. Space is an infinite enigma; the properties of which are unknown, and the limits possibly nonexistent. I think the director was trying to evoke such a reaction in viewers; to make them realize how insignificant we are in the vast universe and how much we still don't know.
ReplyDeleteAfter watching this scene, I would agree with the first half of the quote that talks about how we cannot fathom how big the universe really is. However, I would not say that I am particularly filled with dread by this scene. I would say watching this makes me feel more grateful that we live on the only known planet with intelligent life in this huge universe that is only getting bigger. The 'silence of infinite spaces' could mean that if there is a God, why would it care for us so much? I think the director was trying to show people the vastness and endlessness of space, and that from other planets, we just look like another star in the sky.
ReplyDeleteI find this scene more comforting than disturbing. In other words, in a universe this immense, how could there not be someone else out there? The univers doesn't seem empty to me so much as filled with worlds like ours, worlds unlike ours, and everything in between. Our galaxy has millions of stars, our cluster has millions of galaxies, the universe has millions of clusters, and beyond the cosmic backgroud radiation (when the screen turned white at the end), who knows? One thing is for certain, though, and that is that in the unknown there's room for everyone's beliefs.
ReplyDeleteI think it is awesome when we realize how much space there is in the universe, not dreadful. Since we are the only planet that we know of with life on it, we tend to forget that there is so much more out there to look at and when we do take the moment to realize how big the universe is, I personally get amazed. I can't really see a connection that space could make with religion, honestly. I think the director was trying to show us that even so far back into the 60s, there was still so much of the universe left to be discovered. Sort of like he was trying to show us that , the universe did not just grow over night but it has been this huge since the beginning of time.
ReplyDeleteI found it dreadful, but somehow awe-inspiring in a way I liked, and I want to remember the feelings and senses that struck me when I watched this. The film achieves a very effective sense of watching our little world culture disappearing into nothing and being swallowed up in endless space. The radio signals growing older and fading out made me feel as if the inhabitants of earth are trying to comfort themselves by shining a flashlight beam into a darkened room-- obviously with negligible success. With that much out there, and things so huge and small and loud and silent and so much incomprehensible nothingness, I've always been drawn to an interest in space. I find that thinking about the size and mystery of it all bolsters the strength of my belief in God.
ReplyDeleteAs the opening of this movie, I realized that we have so much and we don't know how to use it wisely. As we know from day one from learning when we were younger we are the only plant with life. And I think that in the beginning of this movie I believe the director was trying to tell us we have so much and
ReplyDeletewe don't know what do do with it. Life goes by so fast like a bright flash of light we do not remember our past heroes like we do our present heroes. It seems like the universe is just fast blinking light and we can't stop it. And who knows where we will all end up one day!
I did not feel a sense of dread when i watched this scene but what i felt was more an emptiness inside me. I think religion plays a big part because this scene can both strengthen and weaken the argument for and against it. I think that it can strengthen it by showing us all that is out there but weaken it by showing us that even though there is so much out there there seems to be silence and empties past a certain point. I think the director was trying to make us feel almost feel alone and wonder what else could be out there even show he shows us there is silence.
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ReplyDeletei sent this to you already but i will send it again.......................................................The opening scene showed that there is an empty world out there. we are too small to event compare to the actual amount of space there is in the universe. I do not think that the silence of infinite spaces has anything to do with God. i just think that maybe there is intelligent life but not too intelligent. they may not be as advanced as much as we want them to. the director was trying to show that there is so much space out there and that we resemble a mere speck of dust in the shadow of the universe.
ReplyDeleteI think the period of silence relates to Christianity. People say that Christianity was the reason there was a dark age. If this is true then If there was no Christianity there might not have been a dark age. If this is also true then we would probably be 1000 years more advanced. If that happened, in the beginning of the movie 'Contact' the silence might not have been that long if there was any silence at all. I think this was what the director was trying to evoke but the scene had no effect on me whatsoever...Except for a slightly increased amount of interest that i have for Astronomy (Ha Ha).
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ReplyDeleteWhen I was watching this seen it made me feel small. When I was wathing this seen it did not fill me with dread, but made me wonder how small I am in the universe and how big is the universe. To me the silence in the galxaxy meant that there was no religion at that place. In the beginning of the scene where there was different radio station's playing, that symbolized all the different religions. Where there is silence there is no religion, that was what the director was trying to make during this opening scene. The director was also trying to make this cene show how big this universe really is. This scene made me feel do I really matter inthis universe or am I just some random thing on Earth. This scene also made me wonder is there something else out there in this gigantic unvierse. That is what I felt during the opening scene of Contact.
ReplyDeleteAfter watching the opening scene again, I can relate to part of what Pascal said. Humans seldom think about where we came from and where it all started. Whether or not there is a god and whether or not he created the universe, it was all nothing at some point. Humans came from that nothing. At the same time, there is so much stuff out there beyond what we are aware of. Someone might "change the world" here on Earth, but that will never have an effect on everything else that is out there. Still, people don't think about that. They are only concerned with what is directly affecting them. I think the "silence of the infinite spaces" is how Pascal is describing his search for meaning. He is looking to religion for answers to the things he mentioned, but not finding them. That is what is scaring him. The opening scene did not fill me with dread, though. It made me think about how we are all part of something much bigger than we are able to comprehend. It made me wonder what else exists in the universe. I think the director was trying to get viewers to understand just how vast the universe is and that, no matter how life-changing events on Earth may seem, they will ultimately be lost or forgotten in all the space and time around us.
ReplyDeleteI do not feel dread when i watch the opening scene, just fascinated by how vast our universe is. "The silence of infinite spaces" could relate to religion in that who knows what sort of faith or religion there is beyond our small world. The director was trying to make his audience realize how small and relatively unimportant we are to the universe. That there is even more beyond what we think are the farthest parts of the universe. He tries to portray how infinite the universe is, even though the director himself and the audience could never fathom it.
ReplyDeleteWhen i watched it just made me wonder what is it what is out there are there any living things out out. Showed me the beautiful colors and creation. i feel dread that we took one of one of the most beautiful places and polluted,destroyed and basically destroyed for our own gain. The silence shows how much they are in harmony and peace so that we couldn't get proof of god and lose faith.even if we found something out there they would be too far away to get to in theis generation.
ReplyDeleteThere are many ways by which the long silence relembles Christianinty. In Christianity you are called to go among the nations to spread gods word. The long silence resembles the place that god has made but no one has been couragous to reach that far to help others. We were all made to to be couragous, because without courage we could end up lost in a world of sin.
ReplyDeleteThe vast emptiness of space leaves us with a strong sense of wonder. What really lies in the great beyond. Religion is a good way to cope with how small we really are. Religion gives people hope, that we aren't actually so minuscule. People turn to the Gods in the sky so that they can fill the deep space that already exsists
ReplyDeleteI really don't see how Pascal was terrified by this. To me, it is a majestic view of the infinity of the universe, not showing how small and insignificant we are, but how rare and precious we are. It conveys the vastness of space in a way that leaves one searching for words, but unable to find any. Also, it really gets across the whole "Awful waste of space" thing.
ReplyDeleteThis opening scene emphasizes on the great stretch of space that exists and how much mankind has yet to uncover. Pascal was foolish to mention the word dread as there is nothing to be afraid of concerning our universe. We should be curious to be able to explore this infinite area and definitely take advantage of our current knowledge.
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