Neil deGrasse Tyson Is Making It His Mission To ‘Make America Smart Again’

On Wednesday, Neil deGrasse Tyson stopped by The Late Show with Stephen Colbert to give his observations on the presidential election. Tyson specifically offered some reassuring advice to Colbert and the country, saying the best way for the country to deal with the next four years is to “make America smart again.”

Tyson helped quell Colbert’s nerves, who himself seemed a little uneasy after the election results, with a global perspective on things. The astrophysicist said in his field, they take a step back and take a look at the world through what he called a “cosmic perspective“:

“You know what we do in moments like this in my field?” Tyson asked Colbert. “We invoke the cosmic perspective.” He explained, “That’s what Earth look likes from high above, not just, like, from the atmosphere, but from space itself, from the universe. And when you do that, all Earth’s problems dissolve away into the infinitude of the space-time continuum.”

He urged that the most important thing right now is to better ourselves for the future. Protests erupted across the country after the election, signaling people’s disappointment, but Tyson said we can overcome the current situation: “Let me just say, I think we have a four-year mission now. I think what we need to do, let us together, make America smart again.”

(Via Late Show with Stephen Colbert and The Daily Beast)

×