Scientific Thinking & Communication by Neil deGrasse Tyson
Want to make the world a better place? Neil deGrasse Tyson is convinced that it can’t be done without scientific thinking, and here I explain why.
Hey there. Greetings from my hometown, Surat, where I have lived for the past 6 months. In 2020, I have been creating and consuming like a maniac since there is nothing else to do.
The past week at work has been quite exhausting and hectic. I have really worked hard (even missed some football games 😅 ) to put this out there for a single reason: it’s worth your time.
That’s where I work on weekdays.
Thank you so much for reading.🤝
“The good thing about science is that it’s true whether or not you believe it’s true .” — Neil deGrasse Tyson
I am sure that many of you are interested or inspired by the work Neil deGrasse Tyson has done for the scientific community. I really appreciate what he's done in his career and he's extremely gifted when it comes to outreach and making science interesting to the general public.
Since there’s a lot of him around, I was not sure about where to get the insights which encapsulate him as a person. That’s when I stumbled upon this. Get freaking ready!
You can get the masterclass for $90 by clicking here. (an all-access pass will cost you $180 for the entire year)
About Neil and his incredible Masterclass
The academic scientists push the field forward, discover new knowledge, and dream up new methods. Without their work, there would be no science.
According to me, Neil is not only a brilliant and renowned scientific researcher but also someone who sparks curiosity in everyone. He does that by conveying the joy of scientific discoveries. He makes us welcome science in our lives. He believes that not knowing the answer to a problem and struggling to find the answer is precisely what science is. It's neither more nor less than this.
Masterclass
It's not about what you know, but about how you think? How is your brain wired for inquiry? How do you think and communicate effectively? These are the questions which are answered in Neil’s Masterclass and that is done with a sprinkle of valuable insights in the field of astrophysics. How cool is that! This has to be one of the most thought-provoking courses I have done in my life. Also, the fact that Neil is a masterful communicator comes across as a fact in each and every lesson.
This class gives you the best workout to your thinking and communicating process (trust me, it matters). I think a lot of you would find it worth your time and anyone who is in a leadership role would probably find it more fruitful.
LET’S DIVE IN!
The Scientific Frontier
As the area of our knowledge grows, so too does the perimeter of our ignorance.
When you're at the frontier of science (just like the edge of a forest which you couldn't find at first), you do not know what questions to ask and what are the answers. Be humble. Often, it’s something different from what you expected. What to do? Reevaluate.
One way of doing this is revisiting the data and asking yourself if it is flawed. The best example of this is the initial observations of three planets not following Newton’s Law of Gravity. Here’s a snapshot of the details which I jotted down in the app that I use as my second brain.
Being a skeptic is essential: ASK QUESTIONS
Just believing or not believing something blindly is called being intellectually lazy.
“Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence.” - Carl Sagan
No one should have the authority to make you believe something is true. Eyewitnesses are the lowest form of testimony in science. Don't get influenced by a single person's testimony. As an example, an oil company might not be a purely disinterested party when it engages in and funds climate research. The results might warrant further scrutiny, but that’s not a reason to reject them outright.
Own up to your own “biases”
Neil says and I paraphrase, “The fault is not in our stars, the fault is in ourselves”.
We are all human and biased to an extent. We can’t trust our instincts 100% of the time. We have to identify our take on anything in the context of our own prejudices. This is very important for scientific literacy and clear thinking. It’s a little tricky to understand and even trickier to realize this.
Understanding cognitive bias, or your tendency to believe that something is true even if it smacks in the face of data that says otherwise (i.e., you might think a fair coin that has landed on heads five times when flipped is more likely to land on
tails on the sixth flip—even though the odds are still 50-50).
Confirmation Bias
Confirmation bias, or your habit to come across information that supports something you already believe, is a particularly harmful subset of cognitive bias. “You remember the hits and forget the misses, This is a flaw in our reasoning.”
For example, in astrology, when you read a random horoscope to a class full of people, chances are more than half a lot will think it’s their horoscope you just read.
“What’s happening is, people are cueing into things that matter to them and ignoring the things that don’t,” Neil says. “A well-written horoscope will fit you no matter who you are and no matter what’s going on in your life because it’s exploiting the selection bias that is inherent within our sensory system.”
How do you protect yourself from something that is seemingly hardwired into your brain?
You can avoid biases by being aware of your belief systems, whether your belief is for a religion, a political ideology, a cultural worldview, or something else.
For example, a Political truth is when you hear something incessantly. Your brain tricks you into thinking that it is the truth, because of the repetition. You might become an automated, controlled voter.
Neil believes that people often tend to get brainwashed very easily. He explains that one should always be wary of being told the same things to them without proof again and again. This is something that the majority of people politicians and dictators have done successfully throughout centuries.
COMMUNICATION!
It's not enough to be right. You have to be effective as well.
There’s no point in making discoveries of truth or science if you’re not communicating it well and according to me, Neil is definitely at the highest echelon in exactly this. The best, arguably.
People are rarely persuaded when you tell them they’re wrong.
Do you have enough knowledge to conduct an argument? You take your newfound literacy (knowing how to ask questions, knowing where to find information, knowing how to contest what kind of information against one another), and then you have to zero in on the thing which makes you confident and the point to it and say this is why I am confident. Don't use sources such as the opinion of a researcher. It's about the evidence.
Prepare for your audience
Preparation is vital. Did you know what Neil said when he was asked on a talk show to justify $3 billion expense for the Saturn mission? He said, "It's $3 billion over 12 years. Americans spend $3 billion on a lip balm in one year". Simple calculations can be very relieving. You have to prepare for your audience. For example, if you're a teacher, you should know the demographics like the audience’s propensity to humour, political leanings, age and attention span.
This also highlights one of the most significant aspects of Neil’s pedigree and that is BEING OVERPREPARED for absolutely everything. He said in an interview that he’s already written down practically everything he says in public. Writing frequently has helped him speak so eloquently.
According to me, there’s a secret hack. You are good to go if you match up all of the following 3 things:
What did I want to communicate?
What did I communicate?
What I should have communicated?
Inspire curiosity
Curiosity is like a fire, spreading out from its source. Neil shows us how to ignite the flame.
Curiosity is not stimulated by dumping a bucket of information on someone, rather just giving them a taste of it. Read more on that here: pedagogical approximation
Conclusion: The future of our world
“I’m a public educator not because it was ever my life’s ambition.”, Neil says. It comes from what Neil calls “a sense of duty.” It’s important to him to pass the torch.
You can take the mantle and spread rigorous thinking and scientific literacy. The fight for an informed democracy is about everybody’s future. No matter what our walk of life, we’re all “shepherds of this civilization.”
Until next time,
Darshil
Endnote
If you’re still here, I’d like to thank you sincerely. It has been a difficult week and I probably need to take a break soon. Till then, I ask you to share this with people who you think will be inspired.
Also, there’s a whole lot from the Masterclass which I haven’t shared here. If you’d like to know or discuss it:
Lastly, if you haven’t already, subscribe here to find my future content directly in your inbox.