Picture of the earth

What effect does a picture of the earth shot from space (that includes moon) have on the general public?

Imagine the cave man, looking at the passing of the seaons as heavenly wonders that he has no control on. He has grown up seeing the strange phenomenon of moon, changing its size with a definite periodicity, appearing, disappearing and reappearing, giving the impressions of Godlike forces acting on the heavenly bodies. His perception tells him that he is at the centre of the universe, a unique flat land engulfed by a bowl of blue sky that turns dark when the sun goes to sleep revealing the twinkling stars. He is a usual chap, not the philospher kind who ruminate over the mankind's past-present-future as well as its location in the this whole scheme of things. His worries are the same as the worries of the usual guy of today, providing food, shelter etc. etc., but the connotations of the images that he has grown up with gives him his bearing on this earth, in this life.

Now imagine the 21st century average guy who grows up seeing the following picture since his childhood:-

(Courtesy http://www.skydiveelsinore.com/space_posters/space_posters.html)

Does this picture alter the subconscious awareness of one's being in the mind and heart of Mr. Joe Average? Does it fill his heart with awe, his mind with the feeling of extreme beauty and vastness of this universe? Will this affect the the way the Mr. Joe Average looks at his life, bothered with his mundane worries and works? Will it affect the way he lives his life? Will it anyway change the way he starts his day in the morning and hits the bed at night? Does the the distance from which the photograph of the earth is taken alter his perspective through which he views himself, his life and his aspirations? Does this view of the earth from space change his life in any small or big way? Or to use the current fashionable phrases, 'Will his quality of life improve in any way' on seeing this picture and growing up with the attitude that the earth is unique as well as not so unique in this macroscopic scheme of things called the universe?

The answer to all the questions above is a resounding YES! Forget the philosophical implications, scientific aspirations and understanding or the academic interest. At a practical level life is a series of problems, and all our efforts to live can be classified as a list of solutions that we are searching for, trying out and implementing for the problems that our lives dish out at every moment. The key factor that affects the finding of solutions and implementing them is the perspective from which we see the problems, i.e. this world, and a wider perspective gives us a better understanding of the system in which we live and solve the problems, and it is imperative that Mr. Joe Average of the 21st century will have a broader database to define his problems of life, find and try out solutions from the perspective he has developed (perhaps unconsciously) by growing up with the picture of earth rising as viewed from the moon. Even an unlettered man will look at the problems, i.e. his life, with a different attitude once he grows comfortable with the picture from the moon, it affects each one of us to the core of our thinking, no matter how distanced our day to day life is from the the ones who are gathering funds for further missions to shoot some more such pictures!