006 Old Light
Hey Star, the light we see tonight left you years ago, and for many of you, long before any of us was born.
Does it trouble you that we will never see you as you are now?
What if the thing you are looking at is not there anymore?
Lie on a terrace on a clear night, away from city lights. One by one, the stars come out.
They look like they are shining right now, just for you. They are not.
What really happens
Light takes time to travel. The light from even the nearest bright stars took years to reach your eyes. Sirius, the brightest star in our night sky, sent this light about eight and a half years ago.
For many fainter stars, the light left long before any of us was born. We are seeing them as they were, not as they are.
How we know: Astronomers measure star distances in light-years: the distance light travels in one year.
The turn
We often treat people this way. We hold an old picture of them, from school, from an old fight, from the first job, and we keep seeing that light.
Meanwhile, they have moved on. They may be completely different now.
Three takeaways
- Our picture of others is often old light.
- People change faster than our opinions of them.
- Update your view before you act on it.
What you see tonight left long ago. Look again.
The only man who behaved sensibly was my tailor: he took my measure anew every time he saw me, whilst all the rest went on with their old measurements...