WHY build a home planetarium is a question nobody but people who DO ask ..why for example have a spent as many hours doing this instead of bowling. I've been the subject of three newspaper articles, and was never asked WHY. People just do what they do. So I ask myself though, being of a somewhat amateurish philosophical bent. There are easy answers. I want to teach astronomy, and inspire future generations is a slam dunk. But if that were really my one driving passion, wouldn't I have become a teacher? I didn't. I like to build complicated things is a slam dunk - nothing compares with the wide range of things to build in this arcane pursuit - from the intricacies of a star projector to the structural nightmare of a dome, from the accuracy of realistic stars to the unfathomable logistics of a round backyard theater. But if that were my driving passion, I'd build other things and be somewhat good at them. I don't, and I'm not. So WHY? Theres something about the illusion a planetarium creates. Something that resonates deeply back far far into my past I think is WHY. I havent yet figured it out and may never do so - but somehow sitting in my own planetarium brings back long ago summer nights - trips to places - it just reminds me of so much that I loved growing up (he ended lamely) . And I think that sharing this - sure I want to feel some pride in building something convincing - I want to teach some things and inspire some people for the future. But mostly probably its that old - I wish you could feel what I feel when I see this. A desire to share that illusion, that wistful elusive feeling. Thats probably the main reason WHY I built a planetarium.
Tuesday, June 17, 2014
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