Our Library of Alexandria

When watching Cosmos, Neil DeGrasse Tyson compares our access to information to the grand library that once existed in Alexandria.  I find this a very elegant comparison and could not agree more.  The access we have to information is incredible, and we can do it within the comfort of own our homes.  Any question can be answered, as long as you know where to find it.  With all this information, it becomes increasingly important to check that sources and context are taken into account, but once that is taught, the possibilities are unlimited.

With the increasingly growing database that is the internet, children are able to gain a vast amount of knowledge in specialized interests.  For example, children are able to look up information on things they are interested in and tend to become devoted to whatever their interest is, learning as much as they can about a specific subject.  When watching the recent season of Masterchef Junior, the younger contestants were better equipped to deal with the wide variety of cooking challenges that the show presented than the adult contestants on the normal show.  People are able to pursue and discover their passions much earlier in life.

This can have some advantages, but I can't help but wonder what the repercussions will be. With children able to learn many more things at much younger ages, its possible that job fields may begin looking at experience and knowledge at a younger age and targeting individuals for employment even earlier than they do now.  The pressures to excel at increasingly younger ages is accelerating, and peoples futures are being determined before they are old enough to know what they truly want in life.  Though this access to information is a huge asset, it becomes apparent that our society still needs to give time for children to mature and have a childhood.

Humans live much longer lives than they used to, so there is plenty of time to be an adult, but less and less time to have a childhood.  Being young is a time to spend learning as much as you can about as many things as you can.  It's about learning the patterns and ways of the world.  This time is essential in developing a love of learning.  With this, learning becomes a natural and enjoyable part of a person entire life, making them able to continue growing throughout life.  The most important thing to learn is how to learn and enjoy it, and with the ability to to ask any question and find information about your questions, the learning opportunities are endless, as long as we, as a society, remember to allow children to have a truly enjoyable experience with all of their learning opportunities.

A Response to Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey

Recently I finished watching the series Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey.  Back in February of 2013 I read an article about the then yet to be released series in which the author discussed the purpose and aim of the show.  The idea was to recreate the explosion of the interest in science in the same way that Carl Sagan's Cosmos: A Personal Voyage did in the '80's.  Though I think Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey was visually stunning, very educational and highly interesting, I don't think it achieved its purpose.

The most appealing aspects of Carl Sagan's Cosmos were the real images of the cosmos and the discussions of the amazing discoveries recently made in the universe.  Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey discusses many historical figures and many of the impacts made in science throughout history, but it does not invoke the level of curiosity about our place in the universe by sharing recent discoveries that have impacted the science community, in the way Carl Sagan's Cosmos does.  Many amazing aspects of our universe, like Magnetars, were not even mentioned! Personally, I find crazy things that can rip the iron out of your bodies from thousands of miles away way more likely to motivate me to discover more about the universe than the many episodes that were devoted to historical biographies. Don't get me wrong, those were very interesting and I learned many things I did not know, but it did not have the feel of wonder Carl Sagan's Cosmos achieved. Also, what about the Hubble Deep Field?  Or the baby picture of the Universe?  What makes those things so wonderful is the craziness of what you are seeing.  With the hubble deep field you are able to look back at galaxies that formed near the beginning of the universe!  I honestly feel those things should have been discussed more.

Many of Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey episodes are full of wonder and beautiful imagery but I found myself always feeling a little disappointed.  All in all, though, the show was definitely worth watching as it does discuss many pressing issues that humanity is facing this very moment, and teaches about the history of science and earth.  Seth Macfarlane and Neil DeGrasse Tyson create a visually striking and fascinating educational biology program, but sadly did not accomplish the goal of recreating a new Cosmos.