Neil deGrasse Tyson: A Modern Public Intellectual

The role and definition of the public intellectual in the modern era has drastically evolved from what they have been historically. At its core, being a public intellectual still involves one to be, of course, publicly known & knowledgeable in some area. Historically, this has meant that public intellectuals were institutional professors or religious figures of the upper echelons of society. But, times have changed. And, so has the role of the public intellectual. Back then, they told us what and how to think. People trusted them to know the information of their day.  Today, the role of the intellectual is to help educate and inform the populous. With the advent of technology, people are more exposed to ideas than ever in history. Honestly, it is more than what anyone knows what to do with. This means that a modern public intellectual is trusted to help people determine the good from the bad. Simply, people look to them for what ideas are right, as they trust their credibility and reputations.

In my opinion, Neil Degrasse Tyson is a modern social figure who definitely fits this evolved definition of the public intellectual. His accolades include such as, being the Director of the Hayden Planetarium, being awarded the NASA Distinguished Service Medal & a Grammy award for Best Spoken Award Album, and being deemed People Magazine’s Sexiest Astrophysicist Alive. The list of his awards and honors on Wikipedia, not that it is an entirely credible source, is longer than my first post on this site. Most highly technical scientists and intellectuals are perceived as out of touch and unsociable, but Tyson has completely gone out of his way to educate the public and excite them about science as a whole. He has appeared on completely non-educational, popular TV shows like Futurama, Brooklyn Nine Nine, and the Simpsons, making it very clear that his name is out in the world and that scientists can be cool too. And making sure to cover his bases, he has been releasing educational media on television since 2006, and in print since 1989. Given his background and views, he has been doing a great job fulfilling this role already.

Tyson’s background starts as the 2nd oldest child of 3 to a family in the Bronx, Manhattan. His mother and father were a gerontologist and a sociologist, respectively. He is one of those people who found their passion early on in life. He had an interesting high school life as he straddled being both captain of the wrestling team & editor-in-chief of the Physical Science Journal; all the while he was pursuing his love of astronomy by attending lectures at the Hayden Planetarium. Tyson actually cites Dr. Mark Chartrand III, director of the planetarium at the time, who gave those lectures as the inspiration for his enthusiastic teaching style and desire to educate others about the universe. And as if he were the hero of his own story, his life kept getting better and better. He studied astronomy with such fervor that he was able to give his own lectures at fifteen. When Tyson was applying for college, the infamous Cornell professor & public intellectual in his own right, Carl Sagan tried to recruit him to do his undergraduate studies there. According to Tyson’s book, The Sky Is Not The Limit, the Cornell Office of Admissions had handed his letter of application to Sagan, and Sagan sent Tyson a personal letter to request he attend Cornell. Carl Sagan even invited Tyson to spend a day at Cornell University, and offered to put him up for the night if his bus back to Tyson’s home in the Bronx didn’t arrive. Tyson had such an amazing experience that he cites Carl Sagan as not just the kind of scientist he wanted to be, but the kind of man he wanted to become. Not everyone gets personally invited to spend a day with a renowned intellectual. And his choice to model himself after the renowned “Astronomer of the People” is not misplaced at all. This just adds to the legend Tyson seemed to have been living at this point.

After obtaining his Master’s Degree in 1989, and then his Doctorate in Astrophysics 1991 from Columbia University, Tyson began a string a research projects with the Hayden Planetarium. Then in 1995, he finally began concrete work on his dream of educating the public & attracting more people to the sciences. This was when he became a writer for National Geographic magazine under the “Universe” column. And the work only intensified after that. In 2004, he hosted a PBS mini-series of the show Nova, discussing the origins of the universe. Then in 2009, he launched his radio show Startalk with the purpose of showing his listeners how, “entertaining & culturally pervasive science can be”, according to National Geographic. Most highly technical scientists and intellectuals are perceived as out of touch and unsociable, but Tyson has completely gone out of his way to educate the public and excite them about science as a whole. He has appeared on completely non-educational, popular TV shows like Futurama, Brooklyn Nine Nine, and the Simpsons, making it very clear that his name is out in the world and that scientists can be cool too. He has done so much to put himself out there. This has done an amazing job at bringing people’s attention to science and garnered Tyson a larger following for his ideas.

Being one of the most publicly-visible colored scientists in the world, Neil Degrasse Tyson has dealt with much racial & social prejudice. Another reason as to why he has been so visible is that he is personally concerned with the stereotype that black individuals are dumb. He remembers never having seen a black person being interviewed on television about a topic that had nothing to do with being black, prior to his own interview in 1989 about a solar event. It was because of this experience that he endeavors to show the whole world that black people are not dumb. However, this is the most outspoken he has been on the subject of race. Besides this, according to a 2014 interview with Grantland, he purposefully refuses interview offers during Black History Month and talking about race. He does so, as he only gets invited on the basis that he is black. This is an expression of his view that people should be treated based on their accomplishments and merits, rather their appearance or something they are born with. At the National Academy of Science Conference in 2014, Tyson showed that this view applies to his stance on women in the world as well. He sees how the systems engaged by societies have made room for inequities between not just the sexes, but everyone, be believes such systems should be fixed first so the everyone has the chance for equal opportunities in the first place.

According to Stephen Mack’s Are Public Intellectuals a thing of the Past?, what really matters for an intellectual is what they do for society, regardless of their station or status in life. Aside from his educational media content and the research he publishes, Tyson also challenges those with beliefs and ideas that aren’t scientifically proven. In 2016, he debated against the Flat-Earth idea with B.O.B, the music artist & one of it’s most vocal proponents, on a setting hosted by Comedy Central. He has been very vocal about how much scientific evidence disproves the idea of a Flat-Earth. And like many of his colleagues, Tyson has also been pushing to refute those who deny climate change and the benefits of vaccinations. He sees where there are false ideas and does what he can to correct those. But there are still many who deny anything that goes against those unscientific claims. Interestingly, such debates both rally people to each side of the argument & divide groups even further. Public intellectuals are taking upon an increasingly representative position among the people.

Just as I and many others who look up to scientific intellectuals and rely on them to guide our understanding of the world around us, many of our thoughts are at their mercy. I do trust science and logical reasoning, but there are others who do not, and have their own very vocal, influential figures who they rally to. There is no doubt of the validity of science, but it is worth keeping it in mind that it is unwise to blindly follow the words of those we trust to know more than we do. Just because one may believe an intellectual or public figure may represent their thoughts and ideas, such may not be well-founded or realistic. I am fortunate that I can always fact-check what is stated by Tyson and any other intellectuals I agree with, so that I can ground my stances and opinions, gaining my own understanding of those ideas.  

As said before, the world has access to more information than it knows that to do with. This has created a lot of ground to cover with so much information to sift through. Just like how Neil Degrasse Tyson has made it his mission to encourage and educate others about factual science, there are others who do the same, but for their own respective fields. And just like him, they will continue to correct the ideas of the populous where they can. They will go on in their roles as teachers and guides for intellectual discourse in communities. Given how divisive the Earth is, it is more important than ever that these public intellectuals, the representatives of so many people, understand their roles and remain conscious of how they continue the discourse of our ideas.

Works Cited:

1. The page for Tyson hosted by the Hayden Planetarium https://www.haydenplanetarium.org/tyson/
2. Article by the Encyclopedia Britannica about Neil deGrasse Tyson: https://www.britannica.com/biography/Neil-deGrasse-Tyson
3. Business Article about young Neil Degrasse Tyson’s day with Carl Sagan https://www.businessinsider.com/inspiring-story-young-neil-degrasse-tyson-met-carl-sagan-2015-11
4. Comedy Central Flat Earth Debate between Neil Degrasse Tyson & BOB: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XHBZkek8OSU
5. Smithsonian Article discussing modern public intellectuals: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/what-happened-americas-public-intellectuals-180963668/
6. Article by Stephen Mack about the idea of Public Intellectuals and how relevant they are: http://www.stephenmack.com/blog/archives/2012/08/are_public_inte.html