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Sadly, this bad deficit, we have the ability or willingness to consider and relate to the universe, because it has an objective that is far less than a real product than ignorance, it is simple indifference forward. If we live in affluent countries, to provide a full range of compulsory education, we will almost certainly encounter some of the basic Newtonian universe theory, Darwin's evolution, paleontology and human fossil record, in the schools (We will not even entered the realm of Newton the theory of relativity, quantum mechanics, string theory, supergravity, and so on, are here) - but how many of us have the lives of our lives, or make a choice, in the present moment, if we take the picture of reality, revealed these subjects is the real?           A World with a View     In 1687, Isaac Newton's Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy, better known as the Principia, demonstrated that the movement of stars, planets and even falling objects right here on Earth can be accounted for by the workings of a single force — gravity. Galileo had been the first to note that falling objects pull toward the center of the Earth, but Newton showed mathematically how the observed motion of every object in the solar system can be explained by the mutual mechanical push and pull of natural gravitational forces...   Since Newton, we have discovered that our Sun is a single star among approximately 100 billion that make up the Milky Way galaxy, a vast conglomeration of suns within which our little solar system makes its home some 30,000 light years (176,238,050,202,219,008 miles, or 283,627,648,664,640,000 kilometers) distant from the galaxy's centre. At the time of this writing (2006), scientists have discovered 157 planets circling 99 of those stars, and extrapolated based on these observations that the existence of planets in orbit around distant suns is more likely to be a rule than an exception — worlds much like those making up our own solar system may number in the hundreds of billions, just in our galaxy alone! Our Milky Way galaxy is but one of billions, and likely, hundreds of billions of similar galaxies that fill the Universe in every direction. The Universe is 12 to 20 billion years old, while the Earth has existed for only 4.5 billion years — for better than two-thirds of the time the physical universe has existed, the Earth was not a part of it. Life on Earth began about 3.5 billion years ago, but we humans have only been on the scene, in our earliest forms (Homo habilis and Homo erectus), for about 2 million years, and in our present form (Homo sapiens) for less than 150,000. We are extreme newcomers to a very large, very old, and even, potentially, very crowded, Universe.   It is a sad truth about life in the early 21st century that the vast majority of human beings now inhabiting Planet Earth share a psychological and spiritual orientation toward reality that has yet to catch up to Galileo... Sadder still is that this egregious deficit in our ability or willingness to take into account and relate to the Universe as it has been objectively demonstrated to actually be is far less a product of ignorance than it is of simple disinterest on our part. If we live in nations wealthy enough to provide comprehensive compulsory education, we almost certainly encountered the basics of Newtonian cosmology, Darwinian evolution, paleontology and the human fossil record etc. in school (we won't even get into the post-Newtonian realm of relativity, quantum mechanics, superstring theory, supergravity, etc. here) —  but how many of us live our lives or make choices in the present moment as if we take the picture of reality revealed by these scientific disciplines to be real? The great majority of rich and poor in every country, followers and leaders within every religion… everywhere on Earth, operate, instead — even if, intellectually, they know, or should know, better — as if the Earth sits as still as a stone at the unmoving center of Creation.   ... [W]e live our daily lives as though the Earth and the Universe were synonymous terms, using expressions like "the world" to mean, not the geological planet we live on, or even the plants and animals and bugs and human beings sharing Earth's biosphere, but rather, simply, what friends, celebrities, governments or corporations are up to, what everybody's talking about, current events, gross conflicts between nations, what's on TV, our jobs, families, homes... As our tiny and wondrously life-encrusted pearl of a planet hugs one of a hundred billion suns, in one galaxy among billions spread like slow-spiraling jewels across the vast and ever-expanding ocean of space, we 21st century humans feel no shame in gazing at our shoes, kicking up dust and muttering, "The world is so screwed up..."   What?   It's all about ME... every moment of every day becomes quite pointedly all about me. How much have I got? How much more can I get? I want to win! I can't afford to lose! I am trying to make a living here! I.. I... I... I... The astonishing physical size and grandeur of the Universe as revealed by science can't compete for our attention because, while such a vision of reality might momentarily inspire us or even strike genuine awe into our hearts, in the long run, its implication that there's really nothing special about our species, our planet, or the galactic speck of cosmic reality our world is but a grain of sand within so injures our inflated sense of self-importance that, in order to remain who we think we are — the all-important godlike centers of everything — we reflexively turn away and re-embrace our self-congratulatory, small-world dreams.     That choice carries a heavy price....           — Vincent Casspriano Jr., The Simplest Path to Personal and Planetary Awakening, Step One: FREE YOUR MIND: 10 Keys for Unlocking Your Personal Potential, Achieving Spiritual Awakening, ... of Humanity's Ultimate Cosmic Destiny, Part II, Key Question 9 – Is Earth the Center of the Universe?                       Indexes/15