Comments | mckitterick: Cool thoughts on aliens by Neil DeGrasse Tyson

mckitterick

Cool thoughts on aliens by Neil DeGrasse Tyson

Aug 07, 2011 20:09

Here's a great video by Neil DeGrasse Tyson covering a couple of super-cool notions that combine what most excite me about astrophysics and life. This is the essence of science fiction for me ( Read more... )

the human condition, science fiction, astronomy, aliens, ideas

Comments 8

tully01 August 8 2011, 04:28:53 UTC

Hey, we are stardust. We are golden. We are billion-year-old carbon!

mckitterick August 8 2011, 15:26:36 UTC

If we're billion-year-old carbon, does that make us diamondish rather than golden? ;-)

clevermanka August 8 2011, 14:02:51 UTC

he talks about how we are starstuff, made of the most common elements in the universe. The first part of that statement is pretty basic to everyone who's ever taken a basic astronomy course

Basic, yes. But amazing and awesome.

mckitterick August 8 2011, 15:27:32 UTC

SO TRUE! I should have made that more clear, that just because it's basic doesn't make it AWESOME.

victoria_lane August 8 2011, 17:34:13 UTC

I love just about everything that comes out of Neil's mouth. He's one wise, insightful, beautiful man.

mckitterick August 8 2011, 17:37:02 UTC

So true! I've become an immediate and complete fan.

science PLUS religion? I know. Crazy right? justaqt August 10 2011, 19:31:10 UTC

I know that some people might be confused as to how I can belong to an organized religion and believe all the things Tyson is saying, but for me they are one and the same.
I don't think there will ever be any scientific discovery that would disprove God to me.
I see God as the ULTIMATE scientist. -smile-
I like how he was pointing out that being able to sign a couple words in sign language and constructing the Hubble may not be as different as we think they are. That concept is directly related to my ideas on an almighty. With this amusing and enlightening description from Tyson on the potential for higher intelligence, I find it hard to see how someone could deny the possibility of an all powerful being ("All powerful" being defined by our own meager definition of such).

Re: science PLUS religion? I know. Crazy right? mckitterick August 10 2011, 19:35:11 UTC

I agree - I see the whole universe as being "God," as it fits every description religions use: omnipresent, all-powerful, and so on, just not yet omniscient... at least until it's full of sentient beings who completely understand how it works. Then, by definition (and using Tyson's language, as we're all part of the universe and it's part of us), God will become sentient.