Edward’s Diary Entry 107: Alienated on the Airplane

We are so petty. Nowadays, with airlines crisscrossing the planet with about 100,000 scheduled flights per day globally, even such a marvel cannot shake us poor humans out of our shells!

After all the hassle of the airport and security, we just strap ourselves into our seats and switch on the in-flight entertainment as soon as possible, even at window seats, happily enclosed in our safe and familiar human surroundings, although a little tightly packed.

How many of you look out of the window? How many dream in the clouds? I do. My face is often stuck to the plastic. I love the view. A look out of the window at take off still shows stick-like human figures around the airport, but in a few minutes all one can see is tiny human constructions and the marks of man over the natural terrain: roads, smokestacks, urban sprawl… A few more minutes and there’s hardly any signs left of individual man. Yes, it looks like the world is inhabited, but we don’t really know by whom – it could be by some alien species down there. Especially the kind of Hollywood alien that comes and conquers the planet, undernourishing humans, enslaving them, commanding their little lives and then sending them to the slaughterhouse or the killing fields in human-created wars for wealth and territory, stupid ideas and ideals.

What we do see is the vastness of Nature, with her mountains, greenery, rivers maybe, snow. And Earth clothed in her particular colours. And clouds, lots of clouds, and the huge expanses of sky. When we reach cruising speed, there is nothing left of the world below but a vast and indiscernible backdrop. Now is this not enough to put us humans in our place? What do we need to get our minds and our problems into perspective? Why can’t we use our air travel to open up our horizons, instead of just watching TV again?

A view from a plane at 25 thousand feet tells us that humans have disappeared. There is very little sign of human society. Nature is there, and within Nature we know there are humans and their structures. But we don’t see them. Their little bodies have disappeared, and their thoughts and emotions are all gone – no sign of them. There are only clouds and the bright blue sky and a shining sun. This should serve to make us humble and convinces us that our problems are really very small after all. So sit back and enjoy your flight through this world.