Most science fiction is about tomorrow, a tomorrow brought to you by innovations in science and technology, and China was worried that if they just have everybody learning what is, they're not going to be in a position to invent a tomorrow because their brain isn't even wired to go in that direction.
Neil deGrasse TysonIt's progress I think, that science has joined philosophy, metaphysics & religion as subjects drunk people argue about in bars.
Neil deGrasse TysonI don't ever tell people what to do! Even if it seems and feels that way sometimes, I don't think I should tell a person how to spend their money. I try not to tell people what to read.
Neil deGrasse TysonIf you're a scientist, and you have to have an answer, even in the absence of data, you're not going to be a good scientist.
Neil deGrasse TysonEverything we do, every thought we've ever had, is produced by the human brain. But exactly how it operates remains one of the biggest unsolved mysteries, and it seems the more we probe its secrets, the more surprises we find.
Neil deGrasse TysonIf a scientist is not befuddled by what they're looking at, then they're not a research scientist.
Neil deGrasse TysonDo you realize that the 850 billion dollar bank bailout, that sum of money is greater than the entire 50 year running budget of NASA. And so when someone says, 'We don't have enough money for this space probe.' No, it's not that you don't have enough money. It's that the distribution of money that you're spending is warped in some way that you are removing the only thing that gives people something to dream about tomorrow.
Neil deGrasse Tyson