The Beautiful Horror of Deep Space

[@allisonhomiak2336]

Reading Laika's Wikipedia article has ruined me. "Before the launch one of the mission scientists took Laika home to play with his children. In a book chronicling the story of Soviet space medicine, Vladimir Yazdovsky wrote, 'Laika was quiet and charming ... I wanted to do something nice for her: She had so little time left to live.'" "One of the technicians preparing the capsule before final liftoff: 'After placing Laika in the container and before closing the hatch, we kissed her nose and wished her bon voyage, knowing that she would not survive the flight.'" "In 1998, after the collapse of the Soviet regime, Oleg Gazenko, one of the scientists responsible for sending Laika into space, expressed regret for allowing her to die: 'Work with animals is a source of suffering to all of us. We treat them like babies who cannot speak. The more time passes, the more I'm sorry about it. We shouldn't have done it ... We did not learn enough from this mission to justify the death of the dog.'"

[@AgentWebs]

At least Laika was treated as a hero both during and after her mission. Her sacrifice paved the way to developing almost every safety measure for space flight used today, and compared to the american space program, the soviet union had a much better record of keeping their animal cosmonauts alive

[@Plexippuspetersi92]

Of course you're more enamored by the dog. I swear people are more willing to kill a human child than harm a dog. It's utterly pathetic.

[@sentientflower7891]

​@@Plexippuspetersi92human children are killed all the time on the Earth, you didn't know?

[@MDE_never_dies]

​@@Plexippuspetersi92Human children are considered clusters of cells. But a Cluster of Cells on Mars is considered valuable life.

[@Knucklebone22]

And I'm sobbing again.

[@HlootooThunderhammer]

Deep Sea and Deep Space are truly sisters in how they frighten us in much of the same ways: dark, cold, quiet, vast and void, humans floating almost helplessly when placed in them. Truly twins separated from birth.

[@Uutbusters]

except the ocean has more life than the land

[@piyo744]

It's weird. I find them both oddly calming. There's just something so peaceful and calming about them.

[@manjibean4015]

​@@Uutbustersand space has more matter than earth, its the density or lack of that is spooky

[@dandabossthesecond3599]

Anything "deep" is scaring humanity. Deep space, deep pools, deep holes, your mo-

[@soccerandtrack10]

​@@dandabossthesecond3599 "Rictofen keeps strokeing that golden rod of his doh😳..."

[@CygnusX-11]

The most terrifying aspect of space is how deafeningly silent it is, despite all the mind boggling stuff going on out there.

[@michaelfiori6700]

Yet with the right instruments.... it can be ever so loud.....

[@CygnusX-11]

@@michaelfiori6700 you'll never be able to hear the actual sound...

[@michaelfiori6700]

@@CygnusX-11 , sorry i didn't say powerful instruments to pick up "sound" in space.... Just the same as we can turn a banana or a potato to make a dude beat dark souls 1-3. We can make tools to "hear" the "sounds" of the cosmos. Dude I'm not gonna argue... you know what I'm saying. Not one person in space can "hear" sounds. But with tools we can "hear" all the types of "

[@CygnusX-11]

​@@michaelfiori6700 you had me at dudes beating dark souls with bananas

[@michaelfiori6700]

@@CygnusX-11 lol much love my dude. Just going down my yearly cosmic horror venture. But for real... fucking bananas... Only zerolenny I know of beat all dark souls with the starting broken sword. Anyway take care as always

[@ElysiumCreator]

I don’t know why, but even though No Man’s Sky is by no means a scary game, just looking out into the abyss, it always gives me chills.

[@davidleonard272]

That and despite the effort to make the Galaxy still lived in, even after the update that lets you run a colony, a vast majority of the time you feel alone. It's why after a while I stopped playing with out any freinds to join me. There is something always so baren about the universe in that game. Don't get me wrong as soon as I leave a planet I may witness various ships flying about and the space station. But I don't feel the sense of a larger community. Idk maybe it's just me and I know No Man's Sky has had more updates since then. I can only imagine this loneliness was worse when the game first got released.

[@clintelkins9630]

It's just that thought that the darkness extends billions of times further than the distance between the earth and the furthest objects of the solar system The already unfathomable distances rendered entirely minute by the very next one

[@A_Shrubbery1901]

@@davidleonard272 that's it, that's why i can't play that game i couldn't place my finger on it until now, thank you

[@davidleonard272]

@@A_Shrubbery1901 Seriously though, I am glad the game has had more success and the updates definitely helped, but I think they should try to make the universe more lived in. What if there was a planet with a more established presence of order, you know? Like larger towns and cities.

[@darkturtle9996]

one time i was playing in VR with some friends and I did something stupid that bugged the game and made me fall out of his freighter, and for some reason it didn't kill me and the gravity stops outside the freighter. I was just floating away slowly, with all of my gear that would be permenantly lost if i died because of how graves work. I was just floating away watching it get smaller and smaller as my friends tried various different things trying to get me back. eventually one of them spawned in their own freighter right below me and i fell down to it, but that is one of the most horrifying and surreal experiences I have ever had in a game.

[@AlesdairProductions]

19:18 Fun fact: Jules Verne's calculations for reaching the Moon were actually pretty accurate, which surprised many NASA scientists.

[@RavenWolffe77]

Verne was a goddamn prophet. Beyond just the calculations, Verne predicted it would be a three-man launch from coastal Florida, a State which-at the time-was largely uninhabitable marshland. He also predicted nuclear submarines; the Nautilus' powerplant is described in quite a lot of detail, and is easily identifiable as nuclear reactor to modern readers.

[@anuragneelam8527]

@@RavenWolffe77 20,000 Leagues was such a good read, but when I read that the sub legit glowed, I questioned,"is this not just a straight up nuclear sub?". Don't remember now if that was how it operated, I think it was some strange sciency method, but Verne was always a pioneer in scientific fiction

[@ckl9390]

@@anuragneelam8527 Technically, a nuclear reactor is just a steam engine. It is also entirely possible to make a working (not necessarily efficient or safe) nuclear reactor with Victorian level technology.

[@piotrmalewski8178]

@@anuragneelam8527 He gives precise description of how Nautilus is making electric batteries using some metals and sodium from the sea. I'm not knoledgeable enough if that was an accurate description of what you need to make a battery but clearly the fiction part was that he vastly overestimated the power output.

[@anuragneelam8527]

@@piotrmalewski8178 ohhh right now I remember

[@_Wanderlustminded]

The idea of being confronted with the unknown of an endless universe and feeling so insignificant you become desperate to hang onto memories of people, places, or things in your life that gave you meaning and making the most of a seemingly meaningless existence while you can knowing it's all in vain never fails to make me cry. The concept has so much potential for angst, tragedy, and hope.

[@mercenarygundam1487]

I kinda feel that now, wished there is someone I could talk to about this.

[@itzzzsss]

U haven't Lucid Dreamed about the emptiness of space. The feeling is so intense. Sometimes a planet tends to move right towards u like a huge eye. Pretty horrifying sensation

[@lucaftf]

I feel you but at the same time it could be a reminder to enjoy and embrace the limited time we have even more. At the end there's no life without death, no happiness without sadness and no light without darkness

[@tarryncooper4742]

The story of Lyka is so heartbreaking. Every single clip or picture of her, she looked SO happy to be involved.... 😢😢😢

[@sweetbunnybun]

you didnt even spell her name right

[@olive92]

@@sweetbunnybun does being pedantic make you feel superior?

[@iCookCrystalMeth]

@@olive92occasionally

[@olive92]

@@iCookCrystalMeth you weren't the pedant I was talking to...but regardless, find a better hobby.

[@Dicka899]

@@olive92couldn’t even respect her enough to spell her name correctly

[@Imurai]

"What scares us about space?" You and Kurtzgesagt endlessly making nightmarefuel essays does.

[@Eggsworthy]

😂

[@superNova5837]

Heavy emphasis on kurtzgesat

[@BARCINO-du4dg]

Y e s

[@Trollgernautt]

Man I roared laughing, this, one million times this.

[@Lyx21]

@@superNova5837 It's Kurzgesagt but I don't want to be that kind of person

[@soraskingdom2388]

The way my heart sunk into my stomach when you told the story of the Laika... I just pictured myself in her position, frightened confused... betrayed.... she looked soo excited. the poor thing could never imagine in centuries of evolution what was going to happen to her. With no way to conceptualize what was happening, all that remained was primal fear. This is going to keep me up. All that said, your growth as a creator on this platform is just inspiring to watch. You are an incredible storyteller.

[@cristiancastro5853]

Exactly. The amount of disregard that animals are just sacs of organs is so heartbreaking 😢 It happens on dairy farms too, the cows are sexually assaulted so they get pregnant and lactate, then when they give birth their babies are stolen so they don’t drink the milk and the mourn for days and it also has serious developmental impact on the calf. But no one cares just because it’s an animal. And if the calf was female she is also a dairy cow, and if it’s a male he’s slaughtered for veal 😢 It happens to beagles too. In some places they are treated like lab rats and are vivisected and tested on. So heartbreaking that these beautiful creatures are treated differently just because of their species.

[@juliagoetia]

@@cristiancastro5853 Yeah, it's beyond horrifying when you stop for a moment to think about it. Thinking about it enough was what led me to going vegan eventually. I just couldn't bear the thought of paying people to do those things to them. It's just too much. Too evil.

[@purplespectre]

@@juliagoetia Morally, I'd want to be vegan too, but I don't think I can be.

[@jyripeltola5904]

@@purplespectre Yeah, me too. Eating meat sometimes gives me a sick fealing. I would feel less bad being a hunter and knowing that the animals I eat didn't suffer. I admire the way of life in lapland here in Finland where reindeer herders have these herds of reindeer living freely in nature, but are semi domesticated and they come when the owners yell and they just shoot one in the head with a riffle so the animal doesn't suffer, and it doesn't even scare the other reindeers.

[@PmBoyle]

@@cristiancastro5853 😂😂😂

[@sada1504]

For some reason, I've never been scared by the vastness of space. It's big, it's vast, and to me it's inviting. Anything could be out there, and that is amazing to me.

[@JohnMiller-zr8pl]

Exactly, beyond all that darkness there are almost infinite possibilities, wilder that any sci-fi.

[@luigivercotti6410]

Yes, that's part of the point. Anything _could_ be out there... but it's not. The empty void between anything that's anything is not only great, it's _so_ great that even at the cosmic speed limit it would be impossible to have any connection. It's not just a matter of waiting. The universe is expanding at an exponential rate specified by Hubble's constant. And there's no speed limit to that. Far enough out, galaxies of maybe untold wonders drift away from us faster than the speed of light. For all intents and purposes, they do not exist. It's vast, yes, but it's a vast nothingness. A personal, empty universe, a personal empty infinite prison for each one of us. We're lucky to have stars in our night sky still, for in time they too will go away. And all we'll be left with is infinite, impenetrable, eternal blackness, in every direction, forever. If we are to bump into anything, gravity seems the dominant factor, the force that pulls things together against the deathly isolation. So, we'd likely go towards objects with a strong pull of gravity. A very, very strong pull. Everything will. I'm talking about black holes. Black holes have been, as branding goes, trivialised and normalised somewhat by pop culture; But let's be reminded: Black holes are things we can observe with a regular telescope, that _literally_ are beyond human understanding. I don't mean they're unexplained, like neutrino particle physics, I mean the very laws of the universe as we know them, which we have tested again and again thousands of times over, say that we _cannot_ understand. A black hole, is a hole, in the universe. But the universe, by definition, is everything; So where does that hole go? What's there? Nothingness? Another universe just like our own? A naked singularity, a maddening thing that breaks the very fabric of reality, where time and space are meaningless? We can never know. The infinite desolation I have described, that will in time envelop each one if us, is also _right here_ . We can _look_ at it. We can _literally_ stare into the abyss. And no matter what we do, the abyss is pulling; As it feeds, it's pulling stronger and stronger. And there's _nothing_ in the way to stop us falling into it. I have friends who really like HP Lovecraft's works. They find them full of horror, insanity and despair. I do not understand my friends, and how stuff like that can do anything other than quaintly amuse; once you have looked up into the night sky.

[@JohnMiller-zr8pl]

@@luigivercotti6410 I read until "the universe is expanding", good luck with your book.

[@pacevy3798]

@@luigivercotti6410 i mean one way to find out, drop a camera down there or something. or go down yourself

[@taiko1237]

Somewhat similar here - this is helped by the fact that time itself seems to be on our side, giving us a cheat card when travelling to new star systems, what with relativity and all.

[@hyperturbotechnomike]

After you brought up outer wilds, i had to think about the countless hours i spent playing No Man's Sky with my family. We play on a shared save file that is four years old, since this game has true multiplayer. In those four years, we accomplished a lot. Our "home" bases are in the 239th Galaxy, but we have countless others, discovered thousands of star systems. But when i zoom out of the galaxy map and see the tiny pixels which are our clusters, not even the individual systems, it also shows how little we accomplished. Combined ~3000 hours of four people reduced to maybe 10 tiny pixels on a 4K screen. No one will ever find our large bases we built. No one will ever find our amazing rare paradise planets. No one will ever find our resource hotspots. Despite them all being saved on a giant server with many people. I don't know if there ever was another player traveling nearby and almost made contact with us. In those four years, there were only two instances of a stranger visiting our base and they only did after seeing them on the galactic teleporter of the anomaly and randomly chose them. It's a 1 in a Billion chance.

[@qwertydavid8070]

This really puts it into perspective how unlikely it truly is to to find alien life. Even if the galaxy was bustling with activity, even if there were massive empires out there that span dozens of solar systems, we wouldn't even know. Space is just too damn big, and the distances between anything are too great. This is assuming life, and civilizations, are common within galaxies alone. You have to remember that there are trillions of galaxies in the universe. If each of these galaxies hosted only one intelligent civilization, then life would be very common on the cosmic scale. But on our tiny scale it wouldn't even matter. We have no hope of leaving our galaxy, it's just too big. As gigantic as the universe is, we are still confined to the small island of the milky way. If we find nothing here, we won't find anything anywhere else. If we're alone in the milky way, we're alone in the universe. Even if every galaxy in the universe was host to a civilization, we would never be able to contact them. The universe could be full, busting with life and wonder and culture and friends. And we would never know.

[@gua5432]

@@qwertydavid8070 A hundred years ago people didn't think a man would ever set foot on the Moon. Wonder what we might be able to do a hundred years from now?

[@qwertydavid8070]

@@gua5432 It's important to understand that this sort of relation isn't equivalent. I think the best way to look at it is to think about lifetimes. Throughout all of human history, people were able to explore new frontiers within their lifetimes. Christopher Columbus made it to the Americas AND back multiple times. I know that it's tempting to view space exploration as equivalent to the exploration of that colonial era. But it really isn't. No one will make it to another star in their lifetime. In a generation ship, the first passengers are doomed, and it'll be up their next generations to continue the mission. Just think about the ethics of that for a second. That second generation doesn't get to choose. They'll be forced to live their whole lives in deep space against their will. We do not know how those conditions affect people. Why shouldn't they have the choice to turn back the ship, if they really wish to? What if there are rebellions and infighting? What are the longterm effects of living an entire lifetime in deep space? It's an extremely risky and unethical thing to do, it appalls me just how casually people mention "generation ships" as if they weren't the most terrifying concepts ever.

[@cassiopeiasfire6457]

I'm finding some comfort in this tonight. It's easy for me to feel like, with the vastness of cosmic perspective, all the little joys and sorrows of my little life are pointless. But... I've seen designs for, using barely speculative technology, sending self-replicating probes to every reachable galaxy, with just the material of Mercury and the energy of the Sun. And while sometimes that project feels big, like some actual attempt to scratch the unfeeling enormity of the universe... I'm thinking now, it would be just as small. In the face of infinity, the universe we know will return to the void someday, and its life will be just as mortal, just as transient, just as meaningless, or meaningful, as our own. Because then, if everything is small, then why should be my life be meaningless? It's everything to me, it's all I know. There's a kind of eternity in the present moment. This moment will always be what it is, tho me or the universe will die someday. So it matters, what we do, how we live, not because of where we end up, but because we're here. I'm here. What do I want?

[@AdamOwenBrowning]

@@qwertydavid8070 the Earth itself is a kind of generation-ship. Everyone who has children, knowing full-well that their class mobility may be near-zero is "dooming" their children to live an almost entirely pre-ordained existence. Gifting the next generation with our hopes and dreams to a point of forcing and thrusting these upon our children with no sympathy, no flexibility, this has been the human standard for a LONG time. People mention generation-ships casually because it's the casual nature of about half of all people alive. My great-grandfather was born in India, poor, with no real hopes of "going anywhere". Was it unfair to bring him into the world? He did not enlist and evaded death many times, doomed many of his countrymen AND family, and lived as a criminal smuggler. He piggybacked off the evil colonial expansions in Africa, and "technically a British subject" moved there, and his son lived as a draft-dodging smuggler also - he didn't really have any other choice. It's by luck and by the extreme suffering of others that I'm typing this in a first-world country, so many generations on. Our migration to England was built off the backs of racial and political violence seeing many of my family, who were immorally operating in Africa to begin with, dead. Many pleas and letters softening the hearts of some politicians and officials who thought it'd make them look good to welcome us here. Just as those brave people who live on the surface of a new planet, may quietly reflect that their ancestors on the generation-ships had NO control, NO say, and NO freedom, I reflect on these past men before me. I understand I'm making a giant leap of logic, but I hope it goes some one-fifth of the way to explaining why many people don't ruffle their noses at entrusting the future to our children - by force, without allowing those children to exactly shape that future the way we typically have been taught to within the last 50-80 years. Beyond 80-100 years ago, this level of agency and individuality was utterly unthinkable, now we take it as-standard, forgetting that for about half of all humans alive, it's STILL the norm. Perhaps given my personal circumstances, you can understand the specific bent at which I view your statement.

[@justinweber4977]

That ending reminds me a line/story from one of the Billy the Kid movies. "Three men are playing cards when the apocalypse begins. The first man says hes going to the Church to pray, the second man that hes going to spend all the money he has on women and alcohol, and party until the end comes. The third man calmly states "i shall finish the game.""

[@tonalpleeb07]

And hey, I'd imagine he won that game with a smile on his face

[@ianmckinzie3606]

Dude. Your writing in this episode was phenomenal.

[@yianniassimakis2285]

Your comment was phenomenal! 🎉

[@alphamasterevi1198]

Since the age of 11, I've actually dreamed about exploring the Deep Space all alone with a computer that helps me to analyze what I found or didn't find. This is oddly comforting ( ๑>ᴗ

[@sockatoo_]

ashes to ashes and dust to dust. we all are made of the stars themselves, and to the stars we will someday return. i can relate to your wishes. i've always wanted to go to space, see earth become smaller and smaller before my eyes, and then when it disappears, i never look back. instead i look forward to what wonders i may find. quite poetic circumstances that i'll never find myself in, but fascinating nonetheless.

[@surkhabsingh5856]

I don't usually comment on videos, but You're brave. I want you to know that. I have similar feelings sometimes, it's a very amazing feeling i know. There will be no evidence of your or my existence, but I'll still be a part of this veeery large universe. It's such a cool way of disempowering the fear of death. Cheers :)

[@kamilareeder1493]

Sometimes I dream of the sea in the same way. Ha in the dream I will often panic and fear drowning and suddenly breathe ❤ sometimes it wakes me up, sometimes I keep swimming 🧜‍♀️

[@axo677]

Atom for atom. Dust for dust. Tear for tear. Start for start. End for end. *Soul for soul.*

[@exile5678]

It's like the bobiberse series by Dennis e. Taylor. The mc died in the first chapter and is reawakened centuries later to serve as an intelligence on a exploratory probe. It's stated in the book that most people would go insane in a situation like that left alone with nothing but time, yourself, and what information you can find.

[@SamM-gl9zc]

It IS pretty wild to think that if somebody ever were to actually stumble across Voyager, it's almost guaranteed that it will be long after humanity is but a memory.

[@Idras74]

"The trajectory of this ship is unchanging. I'm still going to water the plants." I'm going to cry.

[@GP_Conductor]

everytime i play the game i cry. its so well written

[@nickcunningham6344]

Cry on the plants to help water them :)

[@TheActualMrLink]

@@nickcunningham6344tragically, tears contain a bit of salt, so doing that would harm the plants instead of helping them. :(

[@ijriccan]

@@TheActualMrLink*I will bring water filter. I will cry into water filter. I fill water filter. I take water from water filter to water plants. I water plants. I happy.*

[@catdownthestreet]

These replies are a welcome respite tbh

[@NavyDood21]

It's funny, I never felt more small than when I went and saw Meteor Crater a while ago. Seeing that giant crater caused by a fairly small thing and it made me realize how small I really was. Weirdly it gave me a really calm and relaxed feeling.

[@nickolausafon5458]

Chimpanzees prove evolution and genetic competition without alt science views. Dark gray chimpanzee Gray brown chimpanzee? Dark blue chimpanzee† Dark tan chimpanzee† Brown chimpanzee† ... 22 errors later Dark red Chimpanzee† Red Protochimpanzee† Humanoid ancestor†

[@Gottaloveaxolotls]

I kinda get you, it places less pressure on yourself when you consider that there are other, larger things like that meteor from before. It lightens your worries knowing there’s something much more massive out there.

[@himynameis3664]

I got that feeling when I found out you can fit every single planet in the solar system between earth and the moon

[@oPHILOSORAPTORo]

Ultron: "They're doomed." Vision: "Yes. But a thing isn't beautiful because it lasts."

[@astro837]

I just born yesterday

[@SupraNaturalTT]

@@astro837 How I burst out laughing late ass at night after seeing this comment right here, thank you fellow human and eventual carbon atom of the universe, to ENTROPY! I raise thy glass 🤣 🥂

[@morepoppunkthanpizza]

@@SupraNaturalTT same 😆

[@Filmguy4319]

@@SupraNaturalTT same

[@phdonme1]

However ruined this world has become However mired in torment and despair Life endures births continue There is Beauty in that Is there not?

[@elise7191]

GOD laika’s story is just so upsetting

[@Merlin3434]

i thought to myself "i have heard this story before, surely i wont cry this time." turns out i was wrong, poor laika never deserved any of this

[@SpacemarineHelldiver]

​@@Merlin3434typical russian government, they never care, only how to prove themselves superior

[@Flat_Earth_Sophia]

lol

[@Merlin3434]

@@Flat_Earth_Sophia shut up random bot

[@Flat_Earth_Sophia]

@@Merlin3434 Make me, degenerate.

[@october9419]

Maybe I'm weird but I kind of love how small and impermanent everything is. It feels like a good poem, or a book where each tiny detail is for beauty rather than some greater real world purpose.

[@floristfindspeace]

it centers me so fast every time. i’m very much still afraid in my own ways, and i used to be even more scared of space, but i’m comforted by it now, and just fascinated.

[@MrValdac]

That's a really good way of looking at it honestly. Things don't necessarily need to have a purpose as long as they can be enjoyed.

[@kyze8284]

“Is something beautiful because it lasts?”

[@TheActualMrLink]

It’s like a celebration of life, y’know?

[@ladylark10884]

we are the envy of the gods above! why? because we are mortal :>

[@theuday99]

Why do people have cosmophobia ,Let cosmos get married smh

[@jussitikkuri6991]

I just don't like it when cosmos are so flamboyant and in your face.

[@bruteng836]

These damn cosmos are ruining pirates country

[@Chakravarti2911]

It's Adam and Eve, not Fomalhaut and STEVE😂

[@pietrobracelli]

as long as cosmos don’t touch me

[@theannouncer5538]

Underrated comment

[@skenshin]

Just yesterday after our last Alien RPG session we talked about the horror of space, I brought up how horrible it must have been for the animals who were clueless about what is going on and what will ensue, what unfathomable events could terrorize the human soul despite all knowledge and equipment. And now this video gets uploaded. Thank you Universe, I got your message.

[@therizinosauruscheloniform2162]

I love the Alien RPG! If you are interested in other Horror RPGs, I would also suggest Mothership, and Paranormal Society!

[@skenshin]

@@therizinosauruscheloniform2162 Mothership is an awful system :O even though it also has panic all in all the system it is just too clunky, there is no reason to play it :/ That d100? Anything but desirable. Alien is simple, fluid, effective.

[@therizinosauruscheloniform2162]

@@skenshin I agree it can be bit clunky, but I love its art style, and all the supplements are beautiful.

[@fandasubacraig]

Last month I went to Athens and saw Saturn for the first time through a 160* magnification lens. I climbed up the the 360 degree rotating metal stairs, hunched my back and got in a position where I could see a titan of Sol stare back at me. Its weirdly orange hue, its sunlit rings, three tiny white dots - a hallmark of Galileo. All what I can best describe as a 50x50 detailed icon straight from a Fallout game. My heart dropped, a shortness of breath, a memory I was desperate to cling to as a brief moment of adrenaline hit my system that mistifies such a very short but recent moment in my life. It was cool not knowing if what I experienced was astonishment, bewilderment, excitement... or fear.

[@johndef5075]

The picture of Earth taken from Saturn is also startling. We are so tiny.....

[@DefaultFlame]

Pretty sure what you are describing is the feeling of awe.

[@ambitiousmelon1219]

You're not that deep, sorry

[@DefaultFlame]

@@ambitiousmelon1219 You're not a very good troll. 1/10

[@teflons]

Dude, what you said at 5:13 was the most beautiful line ive ever heard from any video essay, ever. period.

[@Fazberrygooday]

I'm 14 and this is deep 😮

[@ferociousfuture2110]

I really don't know, the space seems so unimaginable gigantic and just seen a black void from earth makes everything feel so insignificant and that's very scary for me.

[@YungPollock]

​@marshalmarrs3269what does that even mean lol

[@Desertscorpion116]

@marshalmarrs3269mmmm ok troll.

[@JG-il1jy]

​@marshalmarrs3269idiot thinks that they're smarter online.

[@patsonical]

On the other hand, you can think of how amazing it is that such a tiny speck as the Earth *is* so infinitely significant to all of us It reminds me of the Cognitive Realm in Brandon Sanderson's writing, where the space between worlds is compressed because our perception of it doesn't give it enough meaning. In a way, so what if the universe is unfathomably big and mostly empty if that nothingness doesn't actually matter?

[@patsonical]

@marshalmarrs3269 I'm also autistic, and I can deduce the pattern that you're chatting shit :P

[@thekingzhaul5914]

Many like to believe and interpret space as like an Ocean. I like to think of it more like a Desert, like how the Homeworld franchise portraits it. A neverending hostile Desert made of nothing with unknown secrets that might never be discovered, harsh and unforgiving, yet beautiful and fascinating.

[@Cp-71]

I was going to make a comment referencing deserts and Homeworld - but I see someone else already did... it's so rare and exciting to see a fellow player! :D

[@justusb.plorer8773]

The Ocean is a Desert with its life underground, and the perfect disguise above.

[@Dany94256]

​@@Cp-71 No one? Alright Kharak is burning....

[@cerebraltapeworms5718]

This is exactly what I thought of when introduced to the homeworld soundtrack.

[@F0XHunter]

Ah, a homeworld enjoyer

[@stargazerAPRL]

Watching space videos makes us realise how small we are and that we should always be humble .

[@purplehaze2358]

The story of what happened to Laika made me feel a very primal kind of rage.

[@kirschakos]

I had nothing to do with it and yet I feel ashamed.

[@Link-1004]

She deserved so much better

[@Comet-2011-W3-Lovejoy]

For science!

[@Alex-dr2lp]

Same with the story of the man who put a cat in a blender I purposely called him a man and not a monster because a beast can only tear and bite but nothing comes close to the unspeakable things humanity has done

[@bmplushieproductions4109]

@@Comet-2011-W3-Lovejoy Are you happy? Humanity killed an innocent dog, who loved life, had children, had wishes and dreams, feelings... All for... Science... I hope your science was worth it you barbaric humans... I didn't call them a monsters, because not even a monster is capable of the evils humanity has done. I am ashamed of the fact Im human. The only thing in this universe that we should be afraid of is us.

[@tan_the_man]

23:18 "on a personal level; things that have been lost still matter" god. that hit me so deeply, especially seeing that video of the precious dog Laika. she was so sweet and so trusting. she didn't deserve our cruelty. this is such a powerful statement for so many aspects of life, on humanity, on why we should fight alongside people who experience brutality and genocide, like Palestine, Congo, Sudan, Hawai'i, Turtle Island, Haiti.. not a single human being deserves to go through what they all have, what we all have. what has lost still matters. all these lives lost still matter. all the lives fighting for survival and life and joy still matter. and we should fight for it.

[@TheThreatenedSwan]

People are cruel and don't share my values

[@FreakGoat]

Bro tried sneaking Palestine in there 💀

[@cyberhawk7274]

7:23 "Should she forgive us?" That is the most heartbreaking sentence I have ever heard on youtube. I am a 23yo adult who just cried to that.

[@samueltitone5683]

You have no idea how badly I’ve been craving some kind of love child of Bloodborne and the Expanse. Down to earth hard sci-fi but with eldritch star gods pulling the strings from behind the scenes, occult societies formed by the upper echelons of colonial authority, and spacers with their own superstitions and scrimshawed good luck charms made from the bones of space whales. I guess Dead Space is kind of like that, but for some reason it never struck me as a cosmic horror story. I’m not really sure why. Maybe the necromorphs just made it seem more like a zombie apocalypse? EDIT: For everyone recommending I check out 40K, don’t worry, I’m already a huge fan. The Emperor protects. However, I think you would be hard pressed to call it “hard sci-fi.” It makes even Star Wars and Dune look grounded by comparison.

[@DarthBiomech]

Mass Effect _was_ supposed to be Lovecraft-lite: space edition. At least in the first game, all the halmarks are there - ancient eldritch gods, exotic threatening locations, even cults. That first discussion with the Sovereign is something else and is still chilling, even if later games took a big steaming dump on the concept of the Reapers.

[@WeaverOfStars]

Dead Space does become Cosmic Horror by Dead Space 3 but Dead Space 3 was not liked very much.

[@samueltitone5683]

@@WeaverOfStars I don’t really see the brethren moons as true cosmic horrors. I feel like I understand them too well. In the DLC, they lay out their plans quite plainly to Isaac: they’re the apex predators of the Milky Way or perhaps the entire universe. The growth and expansion of civilizations are merely a part of their life feeding habits. Horrifying? Yes. 100% possible to follow as a mere human? Also yes. At the end of the day, the brethren moons aren’t gods, they’re just big aliens.

[@TheAliceQuo]

Warhammer 40k is what you're looking for.

[@vaenkhar7236]

Lovecraftian hard sci-fi, this is hell of an idea, ima gonna make a book

[@oneshotReker]

"No, you can't put an iris on Jupiter, and make it scary. That's not how it works." "THEN WHY IS IT WORKING??"

[@OctyabrAprelya]

Isn't The Iris after Neptune?

[@Flesh_Wizard]

​@@OctyabrAprelyaNeptune has been mutated.

[@BlackMES]

analog horror brainrot....

[@GleamingLightYT]

​@@BlackMES Dude Gemini Home Entertainment is in mine and many people's opinion one of the best analog horror series, it's far from being brainrot homie

[@BlackMES]

​@@GleamingLightYT 7 8 9...

[@JennaEmbers]

Knowing Laika died alone and scared is making me cry, she must have been so confused and frightened. So many failed her

[@adosmon6177]

true its somewhat sad, but atleast it led to survival of the next two dogs sent to space. might be a sacrifice worth taking

[@dv9239]

She was not the last

[@tankerguy05]

I don't know why, but I was been on the verge of tears for this whole video since you asked the opening question.

[@benji_and_the_tomatoes]

literally same. something about this just hit a nerve within me and i don’t know what i’m feeling anymore.

[@Zero-wn5tz]

I sat in my car outside of work and cried. I have no idea why this caused that reaction but it did.

[@tankerguy05]

@@Zero-wn5tz It's such a weird reaction to this too, because I wasn't sad or anything while watching this video. I wonder how many other people experienced this.

[@Zero-wn5tz]

@tankerguy05 not a clue. I was just fine and then it hit me.

[@tankerguy05]

@@Zero-wn5tz Same here. I don't even have cosmophobia or anything like that.

[@burymeintulips]

I often fantasize about drifting through space, alone. I see it as beautiful and peaceful. Just how expansive it is, and the entire mystery of it. I think it's comforting knowing that death is something everything in the universe shares, even non-organic objects. People die, animals die, microbes die, planets die, stars die, and eventually the universe will too. No one is here forever, and even the human race isn't here forever. I feel like a lot of people don't grasp the concept, and vision of how small we really are. I think Adventure Time plays a big part in how comfortable I feel about the expansiveness, and mortality of the universe. In the show they portrayed it in a very beautiful but real way.

[@JervisGermane]

This concept doesn't fill me with fear as much as contempt and frustration. It amplifies my ordinary resentment that things are the way they are and can't be changed. It's an anxiety-inducing reminder that the universe beyond our planet is as indifferent to us as life on this planet is. We can rage and build and burn all we want, but society, the planet, and the universe don't care. Reality is elastic and always returns to its previous form. Ultimately every action and decision is meaningless, because none of it has any impact on anything. That's not frightening as much as it's infuriating.

[@xxsymphonyxxx]

I relate, that infuriates me too!

[@SisypheanRoller]

A bit futile to get mad at the universe for being the way it is, no? We can't do much about it and might as well just soak in the sights like a tourist.

[@GreyEagle_35]

​@@SisypheanRollerDitto. Getting frustrated about it is just pointless. Just kick back and enjoy the sites 🌎

[@StereoMonoYT]

please forgive us Laika

[@goatwarrior3570]

Stupid rabbit.

[@lancebrown9177]

This made me want to barf

[@f1r3hunt3rz5]

It went out laika real G at least

[@ladylark10884]

sweet laika, among the stars ;;

[@notaperson9831]

It breaks my heart every time. Precious Laika. She was the first. I like to imagine some aliens found her and brought her aboard and adopted her 🥲

[@Tramicful]

I'm not sure what is it but something about your videos gets 100% of my attention, it's deeply engaging. Love the documentary style format you do. Great work!

[@nehuengonzalez2381]

outer wilds is that one game, that is over those fears and make you feels "life is beautiful, enjoy that you are alive, you have feelings, you can hear music" that game and the Film Soul, are so deep in me

[@leaf1673]

OUTER WILDS OUTER WILDS

[@TonyBMan]

Outer Space: tries to suck everything out of you. Deep Sea: tries to cram everything into you. Do the math.

[@rockybiscuit1003]

It puts such a smile on my face to open youtube to a brand new Curious Archive video

[@BloodDripss]

watching this before starting my new job puts a lot of things in perspective. feels like any singular day could be the end of this amazing journey we called life. so why not cast aside the fears and anxiety and just live it to the best of our ability? hug your friend, love yourself, paint a picture, play a game. just make sure the moments you spend are moments you dont regret, and life wont be empty and meaningless. we give it our own meaning every day we are here.

[@zoeytrent115]

I've been so infatuatied with Outer Wilds for the past almost 2 weeks, and I smiled so wide when you brought it up. It's such an interesting space game and such a wonderful but also terrifying way to encounter and deal with things that most if not all humans will never experience.

[@thegongoozler5509]

I like space game.

[@joaquinandrews2986]

I don't know how but all of the recent videos in the channel have left me so comforted. I just want to say thank you

[@tylersoto7465]

It's his soothing storytelling type voice

[@jamese8508]

I've never been a sci fi fan, but this is one of the most intriguing KZbin videos I've ever seen. Thank you.

[@ElNomada2505]

Ive heard the story of Laika many times before. I didnt know the scientists asked her to forgive them, and only when you said that did i fully realize the gravity of what happened to her. It enrages me and saddens me, i nearly cried. Im trying not to right now as i think about it.

[@pluto_niumxo]

saw the notification and clicked immediately! space is scary, can't wait to watch this one. poor laika, her story makes me so sad...but thank you for making such fantastic and unique videos for us-always have the most interesting topics, your work doesn't go unnoticed or unappreciated curious archive!! ❤️🙏

[@traceydelfs2657]

Solaris is such a wonderful, haunting movie. It can be a hard, slow watch but its cinematically beautiful. It literally sucks you into the void of psyche.

[@rockygetsrolling]

You are one of the most talented video essayists/analysts on this site and I do not say that as an exaggeration. The way you interweave history, media, and speculation is masterful, and this video is one of your best. They just get better and better. The point about Laika, about the images on the golden record, and the father and daughter in High Life all made me tear up. “The trajectory of this ship is unchanging. I’m still going to water the flowers.” What a beautiful sentiment. Keep up the great work, can’t wait for the next one ✨

[@garg4531]

Thanks for all the existential dread!^^ Legit terrified me to my core

[@jordanb.4514]

Wow. Two absolutely gorgeous quotes to start the video off. Well done 👏 "Like preserved photographs, the past lingers - Both a steadying anchor, and a crushing weight." "Solaris makes the case that the 'maddening' power of space has less to do with the stars, and more to do with the trauma we carry with us into the dark."

[@Beryllahawk]

Space scares us in part because it can kill us and it won't even notice. But I think the worst is that - in space, you have no choice but to think, to look inward - watering the plants can only distract you for so long. And that's the really scary place, the insides of our own skulls, the silence there, the loneliness. Solaris had it pretty close to right, I think. Space doesn't care about us, the universe doesn't even register our existence. If anyone IS going to remember us - it has to be US remembering. Maybe one day we'll go out there and catch up to our own spacecraft, and recover that golden record ourselves, and look upon those images and sounds, and wonder. "Who were those people? Was that really us?" Somehow that's a tiny bit comforting.

[@Synth92]

Like Ian said in his comment, you really knocked it out of the park with this one. I've been watching you for a while and despite how good your videos have been, I knew you were growing and could get better. This video is that. Great GREAT job man. You're killing it.

[@Trollgernautt]

Your videos just keep getting better and better, so glad I found your channel when I did.

[@braxxian]

I recently red the book series Three Body Problem. Truly terrifying book series. However the most lasting impression it left on me is just how truly massive and endless space actually is. The distances involved between even the closest star systems are just mind boggling

[@ianschneider-sh1pv]

Even the distances between our own planets is frankly insane.

[@that1cat999]

Well I never expected Outer Wilds to be on this channel, but I’m so glad it is

[@itsmaxmint]

Right? That game makes me deeply appreciate all the wonders that may be discovered out there in the endless space.

[@peachbee3396]

Thank you for saying this, I clicked the video to send to my friend bc I’m playing outer wilds bc of her but we’re inching through it so slowly since I’m scared of deep space. I’m determined to finish it bc I love it so much but I don’t want any spoilers so thank you!

[@peaceturtleinfinity]

You have a comforting voice, sir. I enjoy this channel much.

[@TheEnigmaUniverse-vt2pm]

David, you're a poet. I have never seen a physicist describe the universe so eloquently and poetically as you do. Thank you for these videos. Keep them coming.

[@RealCodreX]

You should read more books.

[@Gabriel-br4qe]

@@RealCodreX no need to be a dick about it bro

[@RealCodreX]

@@Gabriel-br4qe There is no need to be a dick about anything bro when you are not a dick in the first place bro.

[@Gabriel-br4qe]

@@RealCodreX you certainly sounded like one with your tone. "ooh you should read more books dummy"

[@SeaSloog]

Space scares me because it is larger then we can fathom and we will never reach the edge. But im still happy to be here on this blue blob of life.

[@clintelkins9630]

I find it all the more alluring because of it

[@dv9239]

It's no different than how people viewed the ever expanding world back in the bronze age

[@Fabboi_unl]

8:59 Damn... Under a star called sun seems to be a genuine masterpiece..

[@afatpossum2586]

Oh boy! A new Curious Archive video, surely this will be a fun and informative video where I wouldn’t tear up multiple times!

[@Cp-71]

I don't know why but I always perceived space as incredibly serene. Everything is so far away it cannot possibly hurt you - and if you have a good ship you can traverse it for weeks in perfect solitude just enjoying the scenery.

[@TrueGermanBall]

imagine being the last human and finding voyager 1 images and seeing all the images of your now destroyed planet, truly terrifying

[@remington6180]

Thank you for my daily dose of existential crisis.

[@oppaloopa3698]

It’s funny cause space is the one place that I find comforting. The ocean terrifies me. Islands make me feel trapped. Open plains make me feel too exposed. People in cities stand too close. There’s so many that my skin crawls. In rural areas people feel foreign and on edge. You’re just close enough to crave socialization, just far enough to feel like isolation is safer. Space is different. It’s bigger than any of us. So impossibly far from responsibilities and people that you can imagine finally tasting true freedom from their burdens. You can see the whole of the universe and recognize how connected and beautiful and meaningless and meaningful we all are. Everything can wait because there’s space and space and space. Never ending space. Space was our first home. The stardust in my bones feels a never ending pull to the stardust that bore it. Those rare moments when I can clear my mind, I can hear in the static a voice calling me home. I’m not in any hurry to die yet I’m admittedly excited for the opportunity for even one of my atoms to reach the atmosphere. To go home.

[@Sicaoisdead]

Whenever I’m going into a situation that I’m nervous about, I something just think about the vastness of space and the sheer insignificance of our planet, human beings and my own life at that point in time. I puts things into perspective and helps a little.

[@theaustraliankangapus16]

Today I’ve found a dead baby bird on my way to water my late neighbour’s plants, a noisy miner being checked over by at I assume is parents. After a while of watching and waiting with some intervention, the parents of infant declared it deceased and flew off. Now the baby bird couldn’t have died no later than an hour ago so I was questioning to myself if I could’ve saved it or even still somehow save it as I buried the body under neat set of leaves. Your video listed down all my concerns regarding my own mortality and what I should do with it. The thought of one day stop thinking, stop imagining, something like that as a creator scares me. My own deepest desire to come into contact with alien life will probably be achieved eons past my life time and yet… I will keep on dreaming and drawing them down so that someone can read it and appreciate it for what it is and not for what it’s not. Thank You Curious and even if this message takes forever to reach you like the Golden Record of the Voyager 1, I’ll keep saying it in the infinite black. 👽❤️

[@Whydoiexisthere-]

We all know that space is scary simply because of the lack of gameplay, servers, and exp sources. Like, there’s not even a proper boss out there smh

[@ThommyofThenn]

Well the probability of low level exp grind lifeforms on every planet is...low to say it mildly. Todd talked about this

[@Observer-3913]

At the very least there’s asteroids full of awesome resources that we can sell for exp. Still, it’s kind of inconsistent.

[@HeffyGames]

That we know of

[@ExtraDip147]

There are places with lots of resources but it takes long time to enter

[@BlindingShad0w]

There are loads of things in space we just don’t invite you to them, yes you, you specifically. The rest of us go to space all the time.

[@cynlovespugs]

I could have gone the rest of my life without knowing what happened to Laika. That poor baby. Rest in paradise, sweet girl. You looked so proud to be there too. :( ps. please consider giving a warning before a story involving the death of animals.

[@T3nMiDGET5711]

This Video sent me down a whole Golden Record Voyager rabbit-hole that has completely changed my life.

[@Morrison-saber-tooth]

Fear from space and fear from deep sea combined together is NIGHTMARE of all nightmares...

[@above7793]

And Outer Wilds manages to have both and still be one of the best games I ever played if not the best

[@Flesh_Wizard]

May I introduce you to Hycean planets? They're huge planets, several times Earth's mass, and covered in an ocean hundreds of kilometres deep. The bottom pressure is so high that the water becomes an exotic form of ice

[@pepper9230]

This might be a bit of a long shot, but regarding Laika: if you can find it, please read the manga Laika no Hoshi. It's a 6 chapter fantastical short story about Laika the dog and her feelings of love and betrayal at the hands of the humans who raised her. Given your general sentiments about this sort of thing, I have a feeling you'd like it.

[@Kai_Leng]

Such a well put together video I haven't had my perspective challenged in such a way in a long time.

[@brokoblin6284]

We already know we are all going to die, and yet we live as if we won't. Years, Days, Hours, what's the difference? Why not water the plants?

[@somethingsparrow8218]

I have to say, And I mean HAVE to, but nothing on this website has made me feel like so much emotion like your videos. Not just, despair or hope, but something more complex. They pull me into an introspection, which is something I crave so much. I seriously appreciate your approach and how you handle topics

[@ThommyofThenn]

Is it something like that fear of open water?? It all goes back to a fear of the unknown and in space/water you're vulnurable from any direction and the environment is hostile to your form of life

[@sethgoodemote3477]

I think this is one of his best videos to date. It got an emotional reaction from me that I was not expecting.

[@codycrossman]

Wow. So beautifully written and presented. From Manitoba, Canada: thank you for putting this out to the world, keeping wonder and curiosity alive! Please keep 'watering the plants,' so to speak. 🙏

[@eliatkinson634]

Laika was deserving of no space travel. That poor dog. No wonder her heart rate trebled, they get scared enough from the sound and motions of a car trip to the vets, let alone the rumble and racket of an old soviet space-can. She shouldn't forgive us.

[@thoughtengine]

Who is "us" though?

[@JS-bn5cb]

dude, WOW. this was an INCREDIBLE video, and it gave me some perspective on some of my own personal struggles, which this video has, in a way, helped me to cope with by realizing how small they are. incredible work, keep it up man.

[@shadophaxx2401]

"A thing isn't beautiful because it lasts" - Vision

[@AngelusNeko]

That last part made me think about life for a minute. Maybe it's time I stop overthinking about the future and how things will end, it's time I learn to live the moment

[@sillyman357]

That's the spirit!

[@Starman_45]

I was binging your videos for fun today wondering when you'd upload next and here's this video. I just started watching but wow that's a cool intro! Excited to watch as always

[@RCAvhstape]

"All these moments will be lost, like tears in rain..." - Roy Batty, Los Angeles 2019

[@RealBradMiller]

8:16 This segment got me more than anything... I'm a lost plant lover... Drifting into nothingness, ever since the pandemic... I've lost everything, but I've kept plants, cuttings, and seeds going through the heat, drought, the cold and the wet... I've lost so much, but I can still build from what I have left... With hope, and a bit of luck.

[@Luxurynino]

The fact they just threw an innocent dog out there to die and painful lonely death is the most evil thing I ever seen

[@Mattatronian]

this was the saddest and scariest video yet. ive been watching your videos all day and have been majorly inspired. im writing a fantasy novel with others planned and have been taking notes all day. however, this has changed my perspective in life a bit. I've been majorly depressed the last few days and although this was sad and scary it also put some things into perspective. so thank you.

[@PDJ13514]

21:00 The mt. Tambora eruption, apart from it being the largest one in recorded history, also got Mary Shelley to write Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus, which is regarded as one of the first science fiction novels. This eruption arguably shaped the modern world.

[@Ominous89]

The only times I've been scared about how big space is, was in a childhood dream that I never forgot. I left Earth, I saw other worlds, I left the solar system, the galaxy, and it kept on going. The galaxies started to look like stars and those stars clogged together. It looked like a giant made of galaxies. A friendly giant. Showing me around just because we live in it. Then another giant said hi and went by like it was nothing. I felt so little and insignificant. It also felt as if I was constantly falling into something endless. Unable to understand what I was looking at. Unable to understand how big it truely is. It's actually strange to learn a lot about space, and to see that it roughly matches my childhood visions and dreams.

[@marioornot]

I think this is the biggest challenge standing between us and a future between the stars. No well informed person would ever in their right mind willingly leave the planet to never return.

[@sublimingmule6356]

I'm always amazed at how deeply introspective you get in videos like this, and still manage to turn it around and wrap it up. "The course of this ship is unchanging, I'm still going to water the plants." Beautiful in its realism. Thank you

[@mikedanielespeja6128]

"Even if we are doomed to destruction, we will go bravely, walking hand in hand into the darkness..." -Bronya Rand, Honkai Star Rail

[@sidhantjasrotia7079]

Space doesn't scares me, but deep oceans sends chills down my spine

[@themilkssiah]

For those interested more in the Dark Forest hypothesis I highly recommend the Remembrance of Earth’s Past series by Cixin Liu. It really gives the concept the depth and terror it deserves

[@rosyidharyadi7871]

Do not answer. Do not answer.

[@zacc6163]

I love your videos keep it up!

[@funnynameforme4091]

Everytime I think of space I realize just how small we are. Earth is not even a blip on the cosmic map and humans aren't even a blip on the timeline of earth.

[@baronvonjo1929]

What really hit home about how scary space is to me was Real Life Lore video on how big the universe is and then a video on what will happen in trillions of years. Maybe there are some flaws there. But I think the main point was clear. It really puts my brain in a weird mindset. I could go on a philosophical rant about it all. Its all sad and beautiful but feels mostly sad. Im not alone. I have a whole world of living organisms around me. But knowing how truely alone our floating blue and green rock is makes me feel so alone.

[@jussitikkuri6991]

Ah c'mon baronvonjo.... you can hang out with me or any of my approximately 8 billion buddies.

[@JustSomeGermanGuy]

Bro.... 6:35 made me cry it's so fucking sad

[@mikipoopoo]

Rewatching this, after exploring many such videos, you understand how unique and elegant your video design is

[@Rose-yx6jq]

Space. The final frontier.