But, perhaps it is the city lights that rob the night sky of its stars that is having a profound impact on us. We can no longer look to the sky at night and wonder - oftentimes there exists only a few specs in the sky...
A dark sky is easily forgettable and does not leave anyone questioning things or wanting more. Perhaps if the stars were more visible there would be less violence and the like as individuals would have a greater appreciation for life/a better perspective on life in general.

How many times has this been dealt with in sci-fi? I know of 2 examples -

'Nightfall' by Isaac Asimov

which begins with this quote:


If the stars should appear one night in
a thousand years, how would men believe
and adore, and preserve for many generations
the remembrance of the city of God?'
EMERSON



and the other book is Douglas Adams' Life the Universe and Everything in which

The planet Krikkit is (at the beginning of Life, the Universe, and Everything) located in a dust cloud composed chiefly of the disintegrated remains of the enormous spaceborne computer Hactar.
Due to the dust cloud, the sky above Krikkit was completely black, and thus the people of Krikkit led insular lives and never realised the existence of the Universe. With the population thus prepared, Hactar, disintegrated but still functional, built and crashed a model spaceship onto Krikkit in order to introduce its inhabitants to the concept of the Universe. Secretly guided by Hactar, the Krikkiters built their first spaceship, Krikkit One, penetrated the dust cloud, and surveyed the Universe before them. Unbeknownst to the Krikkiters, Hactar had been subliminally conditioning their minds to the point where they could not accept a Universe into their world view. They casually, whimsically, decided to destroy it. Aided again by the mind of Hactar, the Krikkiters built an incredible battlefleet and waged a massive war against the entire Universe. The Galaxy, then in an era of relative peace, was unprepared, and spent the next 2000 years fighting the Krikkiters in war that resulted in about two "grillion" casualties.

(excerpted from Wikipedia)

As for me, I'm sitting here glued to NASA TV .. as are the rest of us here I'm sure ..