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Neil deGrasse Tyson Quotes - Page 21

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When your reasons for believing something are justified ad hoc, you are left susceptible to further discoveries undermining the rationale for that belief.

When your reasons for believing something are justified ad hoc, you are left susceptible to further discoveries undermining the rationale for that belief.

Neil deGrasse Tyson
Believe, Discovery, Belief
Neil deGrasse Tyson (2010). “The Pluto Files: The Rise and Fall of America's Favorite Planet: The Rise and Fall of America’s Favorite Planet”, p.51, W. W. Norton & Company

I think we are all the sum of that which has happened in our lives. And if you're successful, it would be wrong to think that you'd be more successful had something been easier. That's not a given.

Neil deGrasse Tyson
Successful, Thinking
Source: www.complex.com

You gotta be a good sport! So when I would lose, I would say, "That guy was better than I was; what do I have to do to be better next time?"

Neil deGrasse Tyson
Sports, Guy, Next
Source: www.menshealth.com

When you innovate no one else can figure out how to do what you're doing because you're too far ahead of them. And the day they do figure out, you're on to the next object, the next widget, the next concept in innovation. And so America has benefited economically from the space race even though it was driven by military.

Neil deGrasse Tyson
Military, Race, America
Source: blog.sfgate.com

How much would you pay...for the Universe?

Neil deGrasse Tyson
Pay, Nasa, Universe
Twitter post from Apr 5, 2010

The most accessible field in science, from the point of view of language, is astrophysics. What do you call spots on the sun? Sunspots. Regions of space you fall into and you don’t come out of? Black holes. Big red stars? Red giants. So I take my fellow scientists to task. He’ll use his word, and if I understand it, I’ll say, “Oh, does that mean da-da-da-de-da?

Neil deGrasse Tyson
Stars, Fall, Mean

One should not be too distracted by definitions. Ideas transcend definitions.

Neil deGrasse Tyson
Ideas, Definitions, Should

I would teach how science works as much as I would teach what science knows. I would assert (given that essentially, everyone will learn to read) that science literacy is the most important kind of literacy they can take into the 21st century. I would undervalue grades based on knowing things and find ways to reward curiosity. In the end, it's the people who are curious who change the world.

Neil deGrasse Tyson
Knowing, People, Curiosity
Interviews from Reddit's "ask me anything" forums, www.reddit.com. December 17, 2011.

The first colony on Mars is not going to be built by a private company. How are you going to make money? You're not.

Neil deGrasse Tyson
Mars, Firsts, Making Money

People are really excited about robotic exploration. I understand the feeling there because, in fact, robots can do things humans can't. They can survive harsh conditions, they can explore places we would never go, plus you never actually have to bring them back.

Neil deGrasse Tyson
People, Feelings, Robots
Source: www.pbs.org

My interest in the space program has a certain purity to it because I recognize the romance of it but I was never seduced by it. That allowed me to view it through a more purely scientific lens. My interest in space while in school came about through my scientific activities.

Neil deGrasse Tyson
School, Views, Space
Source: www.foxnews.com

We have people who believe they are scientifically literate but, in fact, are not.

Neil deGrasse Tyson
Believe, People, Facts
Source: www.npr.org

I agree that we should go back to the moon and on to Mars. We should treat all objects in the solar system, including comets and asteroids, as exploration targets.

Neil deGrasse Tyson
Moon, Target, Mars
Source: www.foxnews.com

Let's invent a new tomorrow and then make it happen. Let's invent the city of tomorrow, the home of tomorrow, the transportation of tomorrow.

Neil deGrasse Tyson
Home, Cities, Tomorrow
Source: blog.sfgate.com

Science is not just 'Here are some facts, learn that'. There's a thread through these stories that, if you know how to tell it because you know how they connect, then it's a thread that will land right in your mind, body and soul.

Neil deGrasse Tyson
Land, Soul, Mind
Source: www.denofgeek.com

As the plow pushes through a parking lot of light fluffy snow, the snow clumps together in bigger and bigger chunks. Out in space, pressure hitting a gas cloud has a similar effect, except, instead of snowballs, you get stars!

Neil deGrasse Tyson
Stars, Space, Clouds
Source: www.pbs.org

Modern science is under no obligation to satisfy the expectations of your five senses.

Neil deGrasse Tyson
Expectations, Five Senses, Modern
Reddit AMA, www.reddit.com. November 13, 2011.

Let's create a World's Fair that captures everybody's visions of tomorrow together and let's celebrate that vision. Let's have articles on it with illustrators imagining how we'd be living differently.

Neil deGrasse Tyson
Vision, Together, World
Source: blog.sfgate.com

I want to create the airplane that flies in the rarified atmosphere of Mars. This is what galvanizes a generation to want to become scientists and engineers in the first place, not we need a scientist to develop a plane that's 20 percent more fuel-efficient than the one your parents flew.

Neil deGrasse Tyson
Airplane, Parent, Atmosphere
"Neil DeGrasse Tyson Explains Why The Cosmos Shouldn't Make You Feel Small". "Fresh Air" with Dave Davies, www.npr.org. February 27, 2014.

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.

Neil deGrasse Tyson
Jobs, Priorities, Innovation
Source: blog.sfgate.com

In physics, opinions don't matter, only demonstrated experiments. The day the fellow succeeds, if ever, he won't need anybody else's opinion.

Neil deGrasse Tyson
Needs, Matter, Succeed
Reddit AMA, www.reddit.com. November 13, 2011.

Spin-off technologies are changing the culture. Even if you don't become an engineer you could be a poet, a journalist, a lawyer, but you will be thinking innovation and your actions within society, who you vote for, what you value, all become a participant in an innovation economy.

Neil deGrasse Tyson
Technology, Thinking, Innovation
Source: www.pbs.org

If you look at Einstein's equations and put in low speeds and low gravity, they become Newton's equations.

Neil deGrasse Tyson
Looks, Speed, Newton
Source: www.interviewmagazine.com

I don't like trying to influence politicians, who are themselves representative of huge numbers of people. As an educator, I'd rather enlighten the people and educate the people and let they be the ones who put the pressure on their elected officials.

Neil deGrasse Tyson
Numbers, People, Trying
"Neil deGrasse Tyson On Exploring Cosmic Frontiers". "Talk of the Nation" with Ira Flatow, www.npr.org. March 2, 2012.

Whatever I am, I'm not as bad as the person that read the novel before watching the film. I'll enjoy whatever they [producers] are putting in front of me. If they made an attempt to get things right, then I'll criticize them for what they got wrong. If they made no attempt to get things right, and yet they stumble on something that's right, I'll comment on what they got right.

Neil deGrasse Tyson
Film, Made, Enjoy
Source: collider.com

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