Spring Convocation: Neil deGrasse Tyson Article

Elizabeth Elder
Neil deGrasse Tyson, renowned astrophysicist and author, visited Elon
University on Thursday for Spring Convocation and was welcomed by a sold-out
Alumni Gym.
The speech, entitled The Sky is Not the Limit,was both inspiring and
humbling and was full of humor, advice, and encouragement.
Tyson is well known as one of the most passionate advocates for science
literacy as well as science in general. His speech at Elon stuck true to this, as Tyson
used his time in front of the full gym to encourage students, faculty and friends to
seek objective truths.
He started out his speech with reference to a past tweet of his; The good
thing about science is that its true whether or not you believe in it, he said.
Over the next hour, Tyson continued to bring focus back to this idea of
objective truths. He discussed modern society and how our society places more
value in personal truths and beliefs over objective, proven truths.
We live in a world where people want to cherry pick through science-to fill
their own personal philosophy-be it a political philosophy, a cultural philosophy, a
religious philosophy. But all those philosophies are of the individual-they are not
objective laws. Theyre not objective truths. Theyre personal truths. And so to stand
in denial of an objective truth in support of your personal truth-okay...we live in a free
country.
Tyson did not scorn those who focus on personal truths. He instead argued
that society could be better and more productive if objective truths were valued more
than personal ones.
Theres nothing you can say about the natural world that will offend a
scientist, he said. Think about it. There are no feelings invested in an objective
truth. Imagine how orderly Congress would be if all their debates were about
objective truths. They might get stuff done! Imagine that!
Tyson, who graduated from Harvard with a bachelors degree in Physics, has
authored many books, including New York Times best-seller Death By Black Hole
and Other Cosmic Quandaries. Additionally, Tyson also served as television host for
the PBS series NOVA ScienceNow.
Another achievement which was brought up multiple times throughout his
appearance, was Tyson being voted People Magazines Sexiest Astrophysicist Alive.
Tyson modestly joked about this accomplishment, questioning who else was in the
running.
Though Tyson was lighthearted through much of his speech, he also took
time to be serious about things. He discussed how our societys interest in space

and the world beyond us has decreased immensely in modern times, something that
he believes is detrimental to us.
We have not been out of low earth orbit in 43 years...Yet somehow weve all
convinced ourselves thats going into space. No. I grew up in a time when people
actually went places in space.because in there, science was manifest weekly in
the papers; first spacewalk, first space station. And no one is saying that might not
necessarily be true, because its being displayed. It was being displayed every day.
Every day you saw what science and technology could do.
Tyson went on to discuss how that was a time in which we really saw Earth
for the first time. And because of that, society began to see the importance in
protecting Earth.
The fact is, we went to the moon to explore the moon; and discovered Earth
for the first time, he said. You know what happened in [the years between 1968 and
1972]? After we saw the picture of the Earth? 1970. The Environmental Protection
Agency was founded...Also in 1970 NOAA was founded-the National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration. Earth Day was founded.
Tyson believes that our journey to the moon occurred in a time in which
people had more faith in objective truths. He thinks society should continue to have a
deep-seated curiosity about what is beyond our planet-something that is not valued
enough in our society today.
Our culture changed, he said. And at that time nobody is saying I don't
think that engine will work because it conflicts with my religion or my politics. Didnt
happen back then. So we went to the moon on a war driver, but its impact was
deeply cultural in us all.
Tyson ended the speech with some resounding pieces of advice for the
students in attendance. Emphasizing the importance of students to foster a love for
learning, Tyson encouraged students to strive for good grades for that reason, rather
than for the reason of a high GPA.
Ambition matters, he said. Youll spend much more time not in school than
in school. School should train you to be curious, so that when you graduate, and you
have that curiosity, youll continue to learn for the rest of your life. That's what
education should be.