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| It turns ou Neil deGrasse Tyson knows what the meaning of life is. |
Really tough.
But he seems to answer the queries just fine. More than fine.
Like the other night in Boston, when a kid named Jack, age 6 and 3/4, asked Tyson, "What is the meaning of life?"
Watch the video at the bottom of this post for Tyson's perfect answer, but here's a spoiler, in the form of part of Tyson's response:
"People ask that question on the assumption that meaning is something you can look for....'Here's the meaning. I've been looking for it.' It doesn't consider the possibility that meaning in life is something you create.
You manufacture it for yourself and for others. Did I learn something that I didn't know yesterday, bringing me a little closer to knowing all that can be known in the universe?
To learn is to become closer to nature and to learn how things work gives you power to influence events. It gives you power to help people who might need it, power to help yourself, to shape a trajectory."
Tyson then urged Jack to jump in puddles, to pull out all the pots and pans in the house and bang on them with spoons. Jack's parents might object, but Tyson said he was overriding them and giving Jack his permission, because jumping in puddles and banging on pots are ways kids explore and learn.
It's a habit, Tyson said, that people should carry with them all their lives. Tyson said he considers a day in which he didn't learn something as a day wasted.
Which makes me glad I stumbled upon the video, below, because I learned something today. You will, too.
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