It may be that our cosmic curiosity... is a genetically-encoded force that we illuminate when we look up and wonder.
Interpretation
Human curiosity about the universe is inherent and drives our exploration of it.
In this quote, Neil Degrasse Tyson suggests that our desire to explore and understand the cosmos is not just a cultural phenomenon, but rather something ingrained in our genetic makeup. This 'cosmic curiosity' prompts us to look at the night sky and ponder the mysteries of existence, possibly reflecting an evolutionary trait that aids in our survival and progression as a species.
In practice
In a science class, you can use this quote to inspire students about the importance of exploring the universe.
The problem is that many people operate on the assumption that NASA should go to Congress every year with hat in hand and justify it every year. Well, I see it as the greatest economic driver that there ever was. Economic drivers don't need justification.
The press still thinks [global warming] is controversial. So they find the 1% of the scientists and put them up as if they're 50% of the research results. You in the public would have no idea that this is basically a done deal and that we're on to other problems, because the journalists are trying to give it a 50/50 story. It's not a 50/50 story. It's not. Period.
As a scientist, I want to go to Mars and back to asteroids and the Moon because I'm a scientist. But I can tell you, I'm not so naive a scientist to think that the nation might not have geopolitical reasons for going into space.
In just one year, the expenditure of of the U.S.'s military budget is equivalent to the entire 50-year running budget of NASA combined.
One of my great laments is that education today seems to have... be less about passion and more about process, more about tactic or technique.
Lots of people think, well, we're humans; we're the most intelligent and accomplished species; we're in charge. Bacteria may have a different outlook: more bacteria live and work in one linear centimeter of your lower colon than all the humans who have ever lived. That's what's going on in your digestive tract right now. Are we in charge, or are we simply hosts for bacteria? It all depends on your outlook.
Science is what we have learned about how to keep from fooling ourselves.
Symmetries are the playing field on which the physical world works and which determine the rules of the game. The symmetries of nature determine for us things that remain constant, that can't be changed. Those are the guideposts in physics, the quantities like energy and momentum.
Now that we can read and write the genetic code, put it in digital form and translate it back into synthesized life, it will be possible to speed up biological evolution to the pace of social evolution.
Science is but an image of the truth.
I fell in love with the elegance and precision of genetic analysis and experimentation to answer profound biological questions.
It is always good to know which ideas cannot be checked directly, but it is not necessary to remove them all. It is not true that we can pursue science completely by using only those concepts which are directly subject to experiment.
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