Ron Garan’s 178 days in space gave him a view few will ever experience—and a realization that changed his life. The former NASA astronaut describes looking down at Earth and seeing through what he calls “the great illusion” of human civilization.
“From up there,” Garan shares, “you don’t see stock markets or political borders. You see a living planet that we’re treating like a disposable resource.” This perspective, known as the overview effect, showed him how humanity prioritizes short-term economic gains over our planet’s life-support systems.
Now an environmental advocate, Garan works to provide clean drinking water globally, urging us to realign our priorities before it’s too late. His message is simple: if everyone could see Earth from space, we’d stop pretending the economy is more important than survival.
