Big and small
Some use the term "global village" in talking down to us. They do it as if their exposure and knowledge are above that of us ordinary mortals. They are mistaken; we all know, but in varying degrees, how the world has practically shrunk. Especially in times of the coronavirus, we are all acutely aware of global interconnectivity - for good and bad. Many perceptions have created the image of a small world.
"Global village" was originally coined by a Canadian media specialist, Marshall McLuhan - to my surprise already published and popularised from 1962 onwards. Sue Lee, in 2012, selected a main meaning as "the dominant term for expressing a global co-existence formed by transnational commerce, migration, travel and culture".
Economists of course add their perspectives.
Thomas Friedman referred to "a world tied together into a single globalised market, with daily production and consumption, carried eagerly by the media to global audiences".
Individuals are able to follow new connecting abilities - with the result of even better nearness and closeness. Digital abilities bring us into new groups - whether culturally, economically, socially, etc.
Though not physically close, people become mentally connected. Despite an apparent uniformity, there remain huge differences and varying opinions. Still, all the above contribute to a general perception: an overriding feeling that our world has become significantly smaller. In a variety of real ways, this is true.
On the other hand, we are to be reminded how small an individual human being is in terms of total earth size. To emphasise this, firstly a necessary definition. The horizon (apparent, geographical, local, natural, visible) is the boundary of the earth surface as viewed from one point where the earth / sea and sky appear to meet. For the purposes of this explanation, nearby eminence which interrupts the view is not part of the horizon.
Go out on a clear day and stand somewhere on an open, flat land surface. Except if you are a giant, you will be closer to the surface than three metres. From this height the horizon will be between six and seven kilometres away. Go to a height of 30m; your horizon may then be 21km away. Go to a height of 300m – your horizon will be about 150km away, with a breathtaking view - the reason why mountaineering thrills so many. (Calculations by Edmund Raisz.)
According to Peter Haggett, a prominent British geographer, your first position of less than three metres in height will give you a view of only 0,0008 of one per cent of the total area of our planet (both land and oceans included).
This is very, very small in terms of the huge earth. What a pity that 'small' humankind, instructed by the Creator to "be fruitful, multiply and fill the earth, and subdue it", has misinterpreted this guideline and abused it, on the one hand emptying it of valuable resources; on the other hand overfilling it with huge populations, with multiple repercussions that turn the global village into a mess.
Our World/Ons wêreld appears every two weeks.