Neil deGrasse Tyson on truth, disinformation and propaganda
‘We evolved to say to ourselves well, if we hear something often, it must be true … And this is the soul of propaganda.’
The year 2022 saw extraordinary advances in science and space exploration.
For the first time ever, astronomers were able to capture an image of a supermassive black hole at the centre of our galaxy; NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope identified the most distant single star ever observed; and the launch of the James Webb Telescope delivered the sharpest image of the distant universe to date.
But despite these groundbreaking advancements, science is facing a crisis of legitimacy. Public distrust in science is on the rise and scientific misinformation continues to flourish online.
In an UpFront special, Neil deGrasse Tyson, renowned astrophysicist, director of the Hayden Planetarium, and author of Starry Messenger: Cosmic Perspectives on Civilization, joins Marc Lamont Hill to discuss space exploration, scientific disinformation and propaganda.