July 10, 2012

ok well this is a depressing/probably accurate way to think about it:

Rookie Magazine: I wrote an article in March about how space is really awesome. I mentioned that the Kepler spaceship has spotted potential planets that might be habitable. Do you think there are life forms as developed as humans living on those planets?

Neil deGrasse Tyson: Well, that assumes that humans are some measure of development. It may be that we’re actually quite primitive compared to other species out there.

RM: That’s true.

NT: In fact, you could argue that the reason that we haven’t been visited is that [aliens] have already observed us and concluded there’s no sign of intelligent life here. I mean, if you have a spaceship that can cross the galaxy, you’re way smarter than us, because we have nothing that remotely approximates that. So why would we assume that we would be interesting enough that they would want to study us? That’s just humorous. How interested are you when you walk past a worm crawling on the ground? Do you ever say, “Hey, I wonder what that worm is thinking?” I’m sure you’ve never had that thought in your life. You might have even just stepped on the worm. So, imagine a species with that intelligence gap interacting with us. They could not come up with a stupid enough thought that could stoop as low as to fit inside of our brains. [Laughs] Just think about it!

8:32am  |   URL: http://tmblr.co/ZpI0byP3Q3eA
(Notes: 77)
  
  1. fatbatman reblogged this from langer
  2. goodbyeolepaint reblogged this from muchlessmuchmore and added:
    I think he’s just pointing out the irony of how, after all we’ve discovered that we don’t know, we STILL think we’re the...
  3. popquizkid reblogged this from jaimealyse and added:
    What Jaime said but ALSO I have thought “I wonder what that worm/spider/whatever is thinking” like a million times.
  4. technologiclove reblogged this from jaimealyse
  5. invisible-lines reblogged this from photographsonthebrain
  6. lilyb reblogged this from langer and added:
    Every time somebody makes a left-hand turn from the right lane I have...thought. Every...
  7. millsinabout reblogged this from erina and added:
    It makes me sad to think that NT doesn’t understand how incredibly incoherent and mistaken he is. For him to say: they...
  8. devers reblogged this from brocatus
  9. muchlessmuchmore reblogged this from barthel and added:
    Is this the beginning of the inevitable Neil deGrasse Tyson backlash?
  10. barthel reblogged this from langer and added:
    FUCK YOU, NEIL DEGRASSE TYSON, WE PAY ATTENTION TO WORMS ALL THE FUCKING TIME, AND ALSO INTERSTELLAR SPACE TRAVEL IS...
  11. wintermelontea reblogged this from langer