Tyson again threw some shade at anti-evolutionists

Danielle: Speaking of fantasy and fiction, Tyson again threw some shade at anti-evolutionists, saying that to believe that the universe is between 6,000 and 7,000 years old "is to extinguish the light from most of the galaxy." He's targeting young-earth creationists here, who believe that the world is 6,500 years old but this would, logically, mean that we would only be able to see stars that were formed 6,500 years ago, Kashgar tours which isn't the case. It's a standard argument, but Tyson delivers it with flair, and the earlier part of the episode really sets him up to authoritatively rule out any possibility of a young earth.Abby: He's also setting up a really interesting parison: viewers, which universe do you want? The disproven, small universe of the young-earth creationists that could only extend to the crab nebula and back a tiny portion of the milky way galaxy or the one with galaxies billions of years older than the earth itself, with black holes leading to an extraordinary unknown?

Danielle: Exactly. Tyson still presents science as a nearly-mystical pursuit. The show opens with cartoon William Herschel who discovered Uranus and apparently was also a musician talking about ghosts planet ghosts, it turns out. Which takes us into time travel, which takes into spacetime, etc. The idea of science as belief in the extraordinary is highlighted, once again. Four episodes in, I think it's safe to say that this is a Theme of Cosmos.Abby: silk road group tour Yes, for sure. Tyson is asking mystical question and providing scientific or at least science-based answers. Not to get too academic, but this episode actually reminded me a little of St.

Augustine's theories of time and memory. He divided time up into memory, experience, and expectation, or "a time present of things past; a time present of things present; and a time present of things future." He does this to bracket out our understanding of "time" from what Augustine, who was after all a Bishop, believed to be a defining characteristic of God: an eternalness. For Augustine, there was no literal act of "creation" of the universe it is a unified act with the rest of the universe. Although obviously science leads to somewhat different conclusions and priorities than those of Augustine's, it felt like Tyson was answering or wondering about the same questions.