Thought experiments about the human condition
“Black Boys Rape Our Young Girls But Violet Gives Willingly”. The Afroamerican author learnt this mnemonic referencing the colour-coding of resistors in a Harvard physics class, circa 1975. It is a stunning example of racism and misogyny permeating a subject with no inherent cultural affect.
This book contains a mix of similar striking anecdotes and data-driven musings about the human condition. It is a series of short essays examining society and trends through a scientific lens to deliver “ego checks on our selfimportance”. The title is a translation of Galileo’s Sidereous Nuncious — the seminal work that asserted Earth was not the centre of the universe.
Dr Tyson uses a combination of counterfactual data and provocative thought experiments to challenge common assumptions and opinions. Each essay holds up in isolation. There are engaging little nuggets in every essay that will make even informed readers exclaim, “I didn’t know this” or “I’ve never seen it from this angle”.
Let me highlight some statements which made a deep impression.
In “Truth and beauty”, the author makes a distinction between objective truth — such as the value of Pi — and “personal truth” which is usually a deeply-held opinion like religious faith. It also makes the point that understanding the science behind something beautiful can deepen appreciation. An astrophysicist (like the author) who understands thermonuclear solar processes loves watching a sunset as much or more than a layperson. This essay also makes the point that beautiful nature is also a killer. Diseases and natural disasters have killed more species and people than humans ever have. Nature doesn’t care about your health or longevity.
“Exploration and Discovery” highlights the exponential pace of discovery. In most fields of scientific research, the body of knowledge doubles every 15 years. “We” know twice as much today compared to 2007 and we knew twice as much in 2007, as in 1992.
It is the author’s contention that this pace of growth also leads to unrecognisable changes in society. Ordinary life in 2022 (or 1922) would be unrecognisable to somebody who time-travelled there from 1992 (1892). This exponential pace makes guesstimates about the future a mug’s game. Having said this, Dr Tyson sticks his neck out happily! He predicts neuroscience will cure most mental illnesses by 2050; autonomous transport will take over; space exploration will be supported by tourism; medicine will be tailored to personal DNA; cancer will be cured; we will learn how to regrow organs and limbs.
In “Earth and Moon”, Dr Tyson mentions the only two national borders identifiable from space. One is on the Korean peninsula, where the well-lit South gives way to the dark North. In the other, the green irrigated fields of Israel give way to the brown wasteland of Gaza. In “Conflict and Resolution”, he mentions the two most costly displays of international cooperation are the “waging of war” and the creation of the International Space Station, with the Olympics and the World Cup distant third and fourth.
In one of the more outlandish thought experiments, the author wonders how aliens might try to get in touch with Earth and what they would make of it. The other thought experiments are less fantastic.
For example, if 97 per cent of engineers said a bridge was shaky, while 3 per cent said it was structurally ok, would you drive a heavily loaded truck across the bridge? The scientific consensus on climate change, and its causes and outcomes, is skewed in this ratio.
Another thought experiment explores emotional biases. Deer wandering in US suburbs cause huge numbers of traffic accidents and fatalities. If predator species like mountain lions were introduced, the deer population would be controlled. Models claim this would lead to 155 fewer accidental deaths, 21,000 fewer injuries and savings of $2 billion. But the cougars would probably kill (and maybe, eat) one human every year. What makes this trade-off unacceptable for most people?
About our collective understanding of risk and reward, Dr Tyson writes acerbically, that while US state lottery revenues ($100 billion annually) are spent on public goods, US state-funded schools don’t, by and large, teach probability and statistics. Is this because a knowledge of stats would bias citizens against lotteries?
One other thought experiment: Rationalia — a virtual, synthetic nation with a constitution driven by rational thought was dreamt up at dinner by a bunch of scientists at a 2016 conference. Every media outlet that picked up on this nerdy joke panned it as a terrible idea, without examining the proposal. What is so scary about a rational constitution?
Dr Tyson highlights misconceptions and misdirections arising from flawed understanding of STEM. For example, 20 pints of ice-cream contain lethal amounts of sugar, while 400 million pints contain equivalently lethal doses of GM chemicals. Or, drug seizures in the US are registered in milligrams (1,000 milligrammes to a gram), inducing juries (and maybe judges) to believe dealers are selling huge amounts.
There are interesting thoughts on lab-grown meat (a good idea), veganism (Dr Tyson likes broiled meat and dairy products), gender fluidity (Rudolph the reindeer is female since only females have antlers in December), race, genetic diversity, disability, and biases in legal systems.
Though the book is Us-centric, its arguments apply everywhere (given conversions to metric units). Through all the provocation and the playfulness, Dr Tyson maintains a central tone of optimism. He believes in a better future and quotes science fiction legend Ray Bradbury, who once explained he wrote about dystopias to prevent them happening. An entertaining engaging book that might trigger selfexamination in the reader.