Neil deGrasse Tyson is a leading American astrophysicist, currently in charge of directing the Hayden Planetarium (part of the American Museum of Natural History) in New York City. He is also a prominent writer, having authored many books including: "Origins: Fourteen Billion Years of Cosmic Evolution" and "Space Chronicles: Facing the Ultimate Frontier." Another interesting fact that I'd like to mention about him is that he is a proponent of the intelligent design theory, or the view that "certain features of the universe and living things are best explained by an intelligent cause, not an undirected process such as natural selection."
Anyways, after that brief introduction, let me get to the actual content of today's post. Though this is a very interesting subject, worthy of debating for hours on end, contrary to what you guys might've expected, this is not going to be a lengthy spiel about my opinion on the matter. As this is Tantalizing Tuesday, I just wanted to provide you with something to tickle your brains; to give you things that many of you probably don't think about all that often. Anyways, this video includes Neil deGrasse Tyson's answer to the question "What is the most astounding fact you can share with us about the Universe?” Check out what he has to say, and by all means, comment!
"When I look up at the night sky and I know that, yes, we are part of this Universe, we are in this Universe, but perhaps more important than most of those facts is that the Universe is in us. When I reflect on that fact, I look up — many people feel small, because they’re small, the Universe is big — but I feel big, because my atoms came from those stars. There’s a level of connectivity — that’s really what you want in life. You want to feel connected, you want to feel relevant. You want to feel like you’re a participant in the goings on and activities and events around you. That’s precisely what we are, just by being alive.”
2 comments:
I saw this video of circulating on fb and just let it be since Luis had shown me this one which has the same message with cheesy overtones. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XGK84Poeynk&feature=fvst)
Speaking of the message, I know it's an amazing though but it doesn't hit me the same way it does these scientists. Am I the only one?
I don't know if I've ever told you this before or not, but I REALLY wanted to be an astronaut when I was younger (and by younger, I mean when I was 16-17.) In fact, before heading off to college, I was dead-set on majoring in Astrophysics. When I got the scholarship for Tulane University however, I was quite disappointed to find out that they didn't have a good Astronomy program and as life would have it, I slowly started to give up on my dream (not that I regret it, I really do like my major.) So, I guess that I'd considered myself one of these scientists (even if only a frustrated one. lol)
As you know, I'm not very big on religions, but this whole idea of interconnectedness through matter and energy flows really calls to me. To think that some part of me (as minute as it might be) is made up of the same matter/energy as the earliest stars in the universe makes me feel like my existence isn't so pointless after all. But hey, this is just my opinion. Let's see if anyone else gives their 2 cents. :)
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