Neil De Grass Tyson redo of Carl Sagan's Cosmos should be required viewing for all. It is an inspiration and it gives the pursuit of science a spiritual quality. He completely expresses the intent that I created this blog for my children and grand children. I just wish I wasn't such a bad writer, I wish I was able to express my intentions as well as Neil De Grasse Tyson did in the following excerpt;
" 5 simple rules. Question authority. No idea is true just be just because someone says so. Think for yourself. Question yourself. Don't believe anything just because you want too. Believing something doesn't make it so. Test ideas by the evidence gained from observation and experiment. If a favorite idea fails a well-designed test, its wrong. Get over it. Follow the evidence where ever it leads. If you have no evidence reserve judgement. And perhaps the most important rule of all: remember you could be wrong. Even the best scientists have been wrong about some things.
Newton, Einstein and every other great scientist in history, they all made mistakes. Science is a way to keep from fooling ourselves...and each other.
Learning the age of the earth or the distance to the stars or how life evolves, what difference does that make? Well, part of that depends on how big of a universe your willing to live in. Some of us like it small. That's fine. Understandable. But I like it big. And when I take all of this in my heart and mind, I'm uplifted by it. And when I have that feeling, I want to know that its real, that its not just something happening inside my own head, because it matters what's true, and our imagination is nothing compared with Natures awesome reality.
I want to know what's in those dark places, and what happened before the big bang. I want to know what lies beyond the cosmic horizon, and how life began. Are there other places in the cosmos where matter and energy have become alive.. and aware? I want to know my ancestors---all of them. I want to be a good strong link in the chain of generations. I want to protect my children and the children of ages to come. We who embody the local eyes and ears and thoughts and feelings of the cosmos, we begun to learn the story of our origins--we are star stuff contemplating the evolution of matter, tracing that long path by which it arrived at consciousness. We and the other living things on this planet carry a legacy of cosmic evolution spanning billions of years. If we take that knowledge to heart, if we come to know and love nature as it really is, then we will surely be remembered by our descendants as good strong links in the chain of life. And our children will continue this sacred searching, seeing for us as we have seen for those who came before, discovering wonders yet undreamed of ...in the cosmos."
I can really get behind the message Neil is conveying. The importance of skepticism is something I definitely will blog about more. The importance of ancestry. The importance of wonder and knowledge and science. All things I want to pass on to my grandchildren.
Most people are raised and taught a narrative that explains the world. They are taught social norms they think will lead to prosperity and happiness. Everyone thinks they are doing the moral thing. Whether its the suicide bomber that blowing up innocent people in the name of Allah, the communist dictator who is starving millions to make sure everyone gets their fair share, and the politician who borrows money from unborn generations to promote their ideologies. When we are children we don't question, because children have to learn fast and if its working for their parents why waste time testing it. When we are adults we continue this habit of mind and politicians and marketers use it to get control of our money, lives and future. The problem is that every one has a narrative and follows the social norms they were first introduced too as children, and they are often come at the expense of others and/or not sustainable long term. I'd like to teach my children and grand children to test the narratives and social norms you were given as a children. Make sure they are in sync with reality. Make sure they contribute to the health and resilience of the next generation. Be a strong link in the chain. As my favorite philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche advises " transvaluate your values."
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