298. Neil deGrasse Tyson — Starry Messenger (7)
1 (1h 9m 60s):
You. Correct? Yeah. Gladstones Blackstones ratio of 10 to one and, and so on. What is the innocence projects? 370 people exonerated who were truly innocent. The crimes they were convicted of. That's too many death,
2 (1h 10m 13s):
Not just that's right in jail wrongly, but from death row wrongly.
1 (1h 10m 18s):
So that would be a rational argument against capital punishment. And yet you'll hear conservative Republicans say, yeah, we don't really care what the ratio is. You know, that as long as we get the bad ones off the street and out of off the planet, as it were then that's that's okay. That would be to me a regressive argument. That would be counter too
2 (1h 10m 38s):
Rational. Yeah. But off the street should be sufficient. Well,
1 (1h 10m 40s):
That's right
2 (1h 10m 41s):
Off the street. That should be sufficient. That's right, right.
1 (1h 10m 44s):
But
2 (1h 10m 44s):
That's not enough may cost money to keep 'em alive. I get that. I, I get that. It costs money. Yeah. But one of the measures of how civilized you are is how, you know, have you found ways to not have to kill your own citizen or, or any other citizens. Right. And how do you treat your elderly and how do you all of this. But like, so you, these are very interesting issues that people feel strongly about. I just want to summarize in the minutes we have that the book is simply an attempt to more deeply inform people for whatever opinions they might then hold.
2 (1h 11m 26s):
That's all it's trying to do. It's not trying to be your opinion. It's not trying to be abundant where you follow what I say and do no it's background information. You might not have considered. That's all it's trying to.
1 (1h 11m 39s):
Well, it does that quite, quite well. All right. Let's end with one last big question. I'm sure you get this a lot. What's the meaning of life in a world where let's say it's, you don't know if there's a God or not, and this is it. Or is that even the wrong
2 (1h 11m 53s):
Question? Yeah. So, no, no, no. I, I it's the fact that people ask it, it shouldn't be discounted as the wrong question. There's value to why people even think that question at all. My sense of this is that the search for the meeting of life needs to be broadened or adjusted to include the ability of us and every one of us to create meaning in life. I think we have the power to do this and to look for meaning as though it's hiding behind a tree, under a rock, in a drawer in, in the seat cushions, you know, oh, here's the meaning I've been looking for or through some religious philosophy.
2 (1h 12m 44s):
Maybe that's good for some people, but so often it's this eternal search for the meaning of life. And I'm saying, stop searching. You have the power to create meaning it could be in anything. It could be lessen this lessening, the suffering of others. If you have of a progressive mind that can give meaning to your life, because, you know, you gave meaning to someone else's life. How do you lessen the suffering through your time, your energy, your resources, your caring, okay. That's one way to do it. Another you'd take up a hobby that somehow brings some deep, inner, spiritual fulfillment to you. I know a guy who wasn't very sociable.
2 (1h 13m 25s):
He might have even been on the autism spectrum. We didn't have that kind of diagnosis in the day. And he went and moved to an island in the Caribbean and he built boats by hand. He was a master craftsman alone. And you go there and you just see the smooth hall of the small boats. Right. And I said, damn, he built this glued and hammered and, and act. And, and this was meaning in his life. He'd like to build the, and then sail them. Right. So, so does that person, is he in search of a God to hand a meaning to him or Jesus? I don't know, but it seemed to me he had the power to create meaning within his life and did, and so I think more of us who are searching and have not yet found it need to stop in our tracks, look around your life and say, what can I do to create meaning for myself?
2 (1h 14m 24s):
So that on my deathbed, I will not, I will not live the regret that I couldn't have done all I, that I didn't do all I could have done with my life, which brings me to a quote, which happens very late in the book from ho man, the educator from 200 years ago. And, and we know him from there's this book very well known private school Harris man. And I think, I, I think I memorized it by the way, in one of his last speeches to a graduating class, he was an, an educator academic. He said, I bee you to treasure up in your hearts.
2 (1h 15m 9s):
These my parting words, the ashamed to die until you have scored some victory for humanity.
1 (1h 15m 20s):
Perfect
2 (1h 15m 21s):
Boy. Wow. That's great. If that's not any, if that's not the greatest definition of meaning, I, I don't know what is, plus I get to say the word Bessie
1 (1h 15m 31s):
That's
2 (1h 15m 33s):
Right. So we need to resurrect that word. I that's just such a, it feels so it's a great
1 (1h 15m 39s):
Be careful, you know, I end up on the porch. Okay. Star messenger. Cosmics perspectives on civilization, Neil, grass, Tyson. I always love your books. And we'll have you back on again when you've solved the problem of wealth, inequality and, and poverty. And so on your next project.
2 (1h 15m 56s):
Oh yeah. That's another. Yeah. I don't, it's bringing science to the problem. I don't know. I'll solve it. And Michael, keep up the good fight. This is my, this is my dipping, my toe in your universe and oh no, it's all good. We're
1 (1h 16m 7s):
Glad to have a great mind like yours now you're always have a new, the cos perspective
2 (1h 16m 12s):
Is important. No, it's not that I've always been there. I just haven't jumped on the sandbox.
1 (1h 16m 16s):
I know. We're glad
2 (1h 16m 20s):
Round. Excellent. Thanks for.
