Neil deGrasse Tyson & Richard Dawkins Ponder the Big Enchilada Questions of Science

Whenever you bring together Neil deGrasse Tyson and Richard Dawkins — one the public face of astrophysics, the other the public face of biology — you’re pretty much guaranteed a good crowd and a spirited conversation. And that’s what students got in September 2010, when the scientists shared the stage at Howard University and considered some big enchilada questions. For example: Why did our mind — from an evolutionary point of view — lead us to abstract mathematics, which drives the major discoveries in physics? What are the chances that we’ll discover intelligent life in the universe, and, if they discover us (rather than the other way around), could we, as a civilization, be in big trouble? Is natural selection operative throughout the universe and would aliens look anything like us? And why is The Blob a much better alien than ET? In short, they’re considering just the kinds of mind-bending questions that college students love to entertain — and hopefully you do to. Their conversation runs about 50 minutes and a Q&A follows.

Related Content:

Neil deGrasse Tyson Lists 8 (Free) Books Every Intelligent Person Should Read

Something from Nothing? Richard Dawkins and Lawrence Krauss Discuss Cosmology, Origins of Life & Religion Before a Packed Crowd

Growing Up in the Universe: Richard Dawkins Presents Captivating Science Lectures for Kids (1991)

125 Great Science Videos: From Astronomy to Physics & Psychology

30 Free Physics Courses from Top Universities (More Free Courses here)


by | Permalink | Comments (2) |

Support Open Culture

We’re hoping to rely on our loyal readers rather than erratic ads. To support Open Culture’s educational mission, please consider making a donation. We accept PayPal, Venmo (@openculture), Patreon and Crypto! Please find all options here. We thank you!


Comments (2)
You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.

Leave a Reply

Quantcast
Open Culture was founded by Dan Colman.