Can A Cosmic Perspective Ease Our Political Tensions? Neil deGrasse Tyson Explains

My great-grandfather said " politics is like bowling. If you go to far to either side you'll wind up in the gutter". I'm happy to still hear this kind of common sense from people like Neil and Jon Stewart.

"The Earth is a very small stage in a vast cosmic arena. Think of the rivers of blood spilled by all those generals and emperors so that, in glory and triumph, they could become the momentary masters of a fraction of a dot. Think of the endless cruelties visited by the inhabitants of one corner of this pixel on the scarcely distinguishable inhabitants of some other corner, how frequent their misunderstandings, how eager they are to kill one another, how fervent their hatreds. Our posturings, our imagined self-importance, the delusion that we have some privileged position in the Universe, are challenged by this point of pale light. Our planet is a lonely speck in the great enveloping cosmic dark. In our obscurity, in all this vastness, there is no hint that help will come from elsewhere to save us from ourselves." - Carl Sagan, Pale Blue Dot

I had a conversation with my dad about politics, he's a Pro Trump conservative and I'm a Bernie Sanders progressive and he said something that really surprised me. He said he used to be good like me and then the way the US government did the Vietnam war changed that. It's kind of a startling thing for him to say because he's basically admitting that what he supports isn't good. I don't know how you even deal with it when someone knows their viewpoints are bad and yet they still hold those viewpoints. It's crazy to me.

In order to have civil discussions, you still need to preserve a democracy where you can have civil discussions.

This Tyson guy should be an astrophysicist he knows so much about Cosmos

Science provides a life framework based on reason and observation.

Always fascinating to hear these two converse.

IF HE KEEPS THIS UP, HE'S GOING TO BE MY FAVORITE ASTROPHYSICIST!

To live a life without dividers, a goal worth striving for.

I get upset because their "opinion" causes me and others real harm and they are ignorant about the negative effect they have. I am literally fighting for my safety which is scary.

Neil is "The Man!!!!"😎👍

The problem lies in the fact that there are a lot of "opinions" out there that are just wrong facts.

My preferred approach when I hear a view point I disagree with is to see if I can identify some elements that I can accept or applaud and then discuss where and why I feel differently. I met someone on campus who was trying to get signatures against extracting and refining uranium. I was a physics major and quite like nuclear power. We had a civilised discussion for about 5 minutes where I was able to tell him a few truths about nuclear energy and refinement and he was prepared to listen because I was prepared to acknowledge that a poorly planned and poorly regulated industry can have catastrophic consequences like Fukushima. He ended up maintaining his position that he didn't think it was right for Australia but acknowledging a lot of his concerns may have been overblown.

The biggest lesson of science is that we cannot and will not ever know it all! Accept that! Rejoice in that! There is always more to learn!

Neil deGrasse Tyson for President!!!

always love hearing these two banter back and forth. always insightful convos.

Starry Messenger is by far one of the best books I've ever listened to.

Love how Neil phrased it!!!!❤❤❤❤

I love how Neil summed up how we are all connected on a spectrum. 1 entity that comes out of another to make an individual. Too bad that fact gets lost in all our fighting.

Niel makes good nuanced points, exactly the kind of thing that enrages MAGists