Seeing Neil deGrasse Tyson speak today was beyond words. It came at such an influential time in my life; I had begun to question many things about my perspective on things. I realized recently that I don’t necessarily ponder on the intricacies of life and meaning, the role that I play in the world around me, how I’m a part of it all and what I think of that. So I’ve unsteadily been mustering together some kind of consolidation of these lofty ideas that seem to escape me into something intangible: having him stand before my eyes and put my thoughts and feelings into words was life changing and it literally gave me shivers.
His speech began with many concrete points of discussion, namely about the shift in American focus away from scientific research and visionary. Science, in the past, has been at the forefront of every economic enterprise and upward trend. As an economic power, he believes that the continued, renewed efforts in scientific study are essential if we are to remain pertinent in our changing world, not just for the sake of money but also for the sake of scientific enterprise. In the 1960’s there was a view of “Tomorrow” that every American could share, could strive for, and looked forward to! That is a tomorrow that never came. Surely, many great feats were achieved once our minds were put to it. Kennedy said, “Let’s go to the Moon!” We did it and were left asking, “What now?” When asked what the one mandate he would press to the public would be, he said “to develop a series of transportations with the ability to travel anywhere to learn anything we would need to know.” He wants us to not limit ourselves by naming just the Moon, or just Mars, but to give us the potential for that and more.
He discussed how the nature of our society has turned us away from proactive study. We are a nation built on fear of the unknown, fear of disaster. Instead of accepting the reality that we are not perfect, we blame nature. The tragedy of Katrina in 2005, he pointed out, was much less about the hurricane itself and so much more about the levy failure. The hurricane had downgraded and passed New Orleans before the levies actually broke, destroying thousands of homes livelihoods. Many other category 3 hurricanes have been experienced all over the United States, but slight few gain the same amount of recognition as Katrina does. The cause of this attention, however, is misconstrued. Infrastructures of today are not like they were thousands of years ago…the time and care that is taken in the artifacts we produce is no longer so refined, and it costs lives and changes the way our society functions around these failures. He states, “Why don’t we do something useful?” Instead of encouraging our society to seek innovative solutions to problems, we encourage denial, avoidance, and fear.
"In this galaxy, there's a mathematical probability of 3 million Earth-type planets. And in all of the universe, 3 million, million galaxies like this. And in all of that -- and perhaps more -- only one of each of us." - Leonard McCoy, Star Trek TOS
One of the most influential parts of his speech today, for me, was instigated by a psychologist that sent him a letter after visiting his Planetarium. The letter stated that this professor was conducting research on feelings of insignificance and stated that after having visited his Planetarium, he experienced the most profound sense of worldly insignificance that he had ever felt to that point. It is true, through our continuing studies of space, multiverses, black holes to new dimensions, studies of concepts we know are there but have no way of explaining: it can make one feel like the tiniest speck in an endless void, hopeless and devoid of meaning. Tyson refutes this by saying that, it is not necessarily about the role that we as humans play in the realities (multiverse or otherwise) that surround us that gives us significance. Instead, the fact that we are able to understand this vastness, to know that there is so much more out there and to do everything we can to grasp the influence that it all has in the grand scheme of things…by understanding what is happening we are not small. We are individuals who have earned this perspective, we are omniscient, we are meta, and we are large.
“To define, is to limit.” – Oscar Wilde
He spoke about atheism. He said that there were atheists riding his case, calling him an atheist, praising him for being an atheist, condemning him for not supporting the atheist regimen when they believe him to be an atheist. In response he stated, “The only –ist that I am, is a scientist.” He talked about how he doesn’t associate himself with atheism, simply on the grounds that he does not do the things that atheists do. His perspective is not about belief, it is about data. They say, here’s the definition of atheist in the dictionary, this is what you are so that makes you an atheist. He explained that the dictionary definition of a word is based on the usage of that word in the language; it does not define its meaning. He says that he is not an atheist by their standards, if anything he should receive a new word for what he is, because he as an individual does not neatly fit into convention’s box of labels. He explained that just because they can associate themselves with some kind of label, it doesn’t credit or discredit them based on merit. He honors the saying “god speed” not because of the fact that ‘god’ is included, but because of its meaning and the way that that meaning has been associated with space travel: it’s a customary, honorary slogan said before every manned mission and he says it as a friend and a proponent of scientific exploration. He honors the Gregorian calendar, using BC not BCE because that is how it was done, they solved the problem of time in a methodical and accurate way, and just because it is associated with “Christ” does not detract from the significance of the discovery. Yes they were Christian, yes they named things after Christian aspects; it does not deaden the impact of what they did. Why create controversy when it is unwarranted, menial? It is just another word, detach yourself from the meaning and focus on the more important idea that goes with it. In conclusion, he stated that the idea of aligning with labels such as atheist, or democrat, or any other thing you could think of is simply another example of how society is seeking to normalize us all. He asks in conclusion, why try to place labels on everything when the essence of the individual, of the meaning that we each carry, is so much more encompassing and influential?
For god’s sake, he named Bill Nye as his closest friend! What world do we exist in that such perfection can be possible? And he called his closest friend on the phone! To speak to us, humble fans, to listen to him say “Go Seminoles”. I lost my shit. He talked about octopi playing ping pong, he talked about bacteria being a true master in our universe, he made a Doctor Who quote, he talked about why Pluto still isn’t a planet and we should get over it, he talked about poop, he talked about drunks and light posts and how they relate to photons and the singularity that is their life span, he picked Kirk over Picard. He talked about life. And he gave me the validation of views that I could never voice before.
