Status Updates From Letters from an Astrophysicist

Striving to do what is right, without regard to who takes notice, should be a model for us all.

There's a growing anti-intellectual strain in this country that may be the beginning of the end of our informed democracy. Of course, in a free society you can and should think whatever you want. And if you want to think the world is flat go right ahead. But if you think the world is flat &you have influence over others, then being wrong becomes being harmful to the health, the wealth, &the security of our citizenry.

My personal goal is to leave the world a little better off for my having lived in it.

You never want to win an argument for being a better writer, or because you have a bigger vocabulary than your opponent. In this way, the strength of the argument rests on the strength of the argument rather than the strength of your literacy.

I have always felt that purpose is not defined outside of ourselves, but from deep within. My purpose in life is to lessen the suffering of others; advance our understanding of the universe; and enlighten others along the way.