“A careful reading of older texts, particularly those concerned with the universe itself, shows that the authors invoke divinity only when they reach the boundaries of their understanding. They appeal to a higher power only when staring into the ocean of their own ignorance. They call on God only from the lonely and precarious edge of incomprehension. Where they feel certain about their explanations, however, God gets hardly a mention.”
About This Quote
One of the single most profound essays I have ever read.
More from Neil deGrasse Tyson
“Often Politicians tell us lies we want to hear rather than truths we need to know —…”
“There seems to be a mysterious force in the universe, one that overwhelms gravity on the…”
“By burning coal, oil and gas, our civilization is exhaling carbon dioxide much faster than…”
“Why is Venus scorching hot? It's because…the flow of energy is blocked by a dense…”