Welcome to DU!
The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards.
Join the community:
Create a free account
Support DU (and get rid of ads!):
Become a Star Member
Latest Breaking News
General Discussion
The DU Lounge
All Forums
Issue Forums
Culture Forums
Alliance Forums
Region Forums
Support Forums
Help & Search
The Moon landing - fifty years ago today - reminds us of the importance of good news
America really needed the 1969 moon landing to go well to serve as an antidote to a decade of bad news. Does that sound familiar?
-----
The emotional effect was only heightened by how this uplifting, invigorating demonstration of American prowess could turn to tragedy in a nano-second – and the 94 per cent of TV-owning Americans who tuned in to watch knew it. So when the crew splashed down safely in the Pacific Ocean on July 24, this tale of Herculean endeavour was assured a happy ending. For once the news couldn’t get much better.
“People had been following the whole space program and all the previous rocket launches, so this was the climax of a story that had been building for a long time, with everyone invested in it together,” says Arthur Markman, a professor in the department of psychology at the University of Texas at Austin. “But nowadays with streaming services we can’t even watch a TV show at the same time.”
-----
“If you don’t hear good news, it can lead to a degree of cynicism about public elements such as government and corporations, and if all we hear is a stream of bad news about them, it is easy to disengage,” Markman says. “Good news is valuable to remind us about why institutions exist. The moon landing reinforced this idea that we live in a world of technological marvels.”
-----
The emotional effect was only heightened by how this uplifting, invigorating demonstration of American prowess could turn to tragedy in a nano-second – and the 94 per cent of TV-owning Americans who tuned in to watch knew it. So when the crew splashed down safely in the Pacific Ocean on July 24, this tale of Herculean endeavour was assured a happy ending. For once the news couldn’t get much better.
“People had been following the whole space program and all the previous rocket launches, so this was the climax of a story that had been building for a long time, with everyone invested in it together,” says Arthur Markman, a professor in the department of psychology at the University of Texas at Austin. “But nowadays with streaming services we can’t even watch a TV show at the same time.”
-----
“If you don’t hear good news, it can lead to a degree of cynicism about public elements such as government and corporations, and if all we hear is a stream of bad news about them, it is easy to disengage,” Markman says. “Good news is valuable to remind us about why institutions exist. The moon landing reinforced this idea that we live in a world of technological marvels.”
[link:https://www.newstatesman.com/world/north-america/2019/07/moon-landing-fifty-years-ago-today-reminds-us-importance-good-news|
A sense of optimism in such dark times would be very welcome!