Neil deGrasse
Neil deGrasse
fact inherently merely people revealing special
People credit me for making the universe interesting when in fact the universe is inherently interesting, and I'm merely revealing that fact. I don't think I'm anything special for this to happen.
advance jobs major national overseas priority symptom
I see all this talk about jobs going overseas as a symptom of the absence of innovation. And the absence of innovation is a symptom of there being no major national priority to advance a frontier.
deny imagine life
No astrophysicist would deny the possibility of life. I think we're not creative enough to imagine what life would be like on another planet. Show me a dead alien. Better yet, show me a live one!
across attempt invested time understanding
In all civilizations we've studied, all cultures that we know of across the Earth and across time have invested some kind of attempt to understanding where where, where they come from, and where they are going.
closer complete matter remain solving
I want to know what dark matter and dark energy are comprised of. They remain a mystery, a complete mystery. No one is any closer to solving the problem than when these two things were discovered.
bred diminishes elevates grand great instead knowing multiple news people society
We have bred multiple generations of people who have not experienced knowing where you are the moment a news story broke, with that news story being great and grand and something that elevates society instead of diminishes it.
people psychology seeing sky understand unique
There's something about witnessing something in the sky that makes people think they're seeing something unique or special. I don't really understand the psychology of it, to be honest.
people spite
People who are scientists today are scientists in spite of the system, typically, not because of it.
Many academicians don't even own a television, much less watch one.
life
I've been a minimalist my whole life, even if you wouldn't know it from my office.
errors
I don't comment on the physics errors of 'Star Wars,' all right. I just - you let that one go.
humblest
The humblest person in this world is the astrophysicist. Because we are face to face with our ignorance every single day.
biggest book books built buy cents cost kid libraries recognize saw science spent tables time
My parents didn't know much science; in fact, they didn't know science at all. But they could recognize a science book when they saw it, and they spent a lot of time at bookstores, combing the remainder tables for science books to buy for me. I had one of the biggest libraries of any kid in school, built on books that cost 50 cents or a dollar.
conduct discovery generation human influence life might pace pass slow
For most of human civilization, the pace of innovation has been so slow that a generation might pass before a discovery would influence your life, culture or the conduct of nations.