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"A lot of people's first reaction always seems to be "we're so insignificant!" " Neil deGrasse Tyson often counters this reaction by pointing out that while th
by grannyg00se 15y ago
"A lot of people's first reaction always seems to be "we're so insignificant!" "
Neil deGrasse Tyson often counters this reaction by pointing out that while the universe is vast, we are made of it. So we are not simply small separate objects in a large universe, we are actually part of the physical elements that make it up and come from the same "stuff". At least that's what I gather when he says this:
"Recognize that the very molecules that make up your body, the atoms that construct the molecules, are traceable to the crucibles that were once the centers of high mass stars that exploded their chemically rich guts into the galaxy, enriching pristine gas clouds with the chemistry of life. So that we are all connected to each other biologically, to the earth chemically and to the rest of the universe atomically. That’s kinda cool! That makes me smile and I actually feel quite large at the end of that. It’s not that we are better than the universe, we are part of the universe. We are in the universe and the universe is in us.”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VOzkEwaMnaE http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VOzkEwaMnaE
http://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/12855.Neil_deGrasse_Tyson http://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/12855.Neil_deGrasse_T...
- JonnieCache 15y agoFeynman countered this by saying we're extremely large compared to atoms and fundamental particles, so we can "sit in the middle and enjoy everything both ways." http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nmzHQljJ4bc http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nmzHQljJ4bc
- kls 15y agoI remember reading a quote once and you will have to forgive me for not remembering who said it but the approximation of it was "all will be known when the scientist looking trough the telescope, see the scientist looking back at him, through the microscope on the other end". I though it was a great quote about the recursiveness about the big questions. That amazing part about it is the relevance of it, we really don't know how big or small we are it is all perspective, for all we know the universe is a singularity in another perspective. If you traveled far enough fast enough and looked back on the universe it would be a singularity, as time and distance are related so you would be looking at the universe pre-big bang or from the perspective of distance however you want to view it.
- fletchowns 15y agoI like to think of humans as being part of the evolution of the universe. The universe has evolved to the point where it is now able to ponder its own existence.
- yelongren 15y agoI like that. We are merely a tool for the navel-gazing of the universe. Interestingly enough, the tool itself navel-gazes about its own utility.