Neil deGrasse Tyson - We Stopped Dreaming (Episode 1)
Why Hacker News recommends it
Recommended to anyone asking whether space exploration is worth the cost.
What it is
A short, music-driven video built from Neil deGrasse Tyson's remarks on why advancing the space frontier matters, contrasting NASA's small budget with war spending and stressing inspiration.
Recommended by 3 HN commenters across 3 different months, 2012 to 2025.
What Hacker News said
Strong rec ButchDriveshaft · 2014-11 · on “Philae has landed”
I had to create an account just to thank you for this response. I always recommend anyone wondering about whether or not space exploration is worth it to view the following amazing video compilations. "We Stopped Dreaming - Episode 1": [this video] "We Stopped Dreaming - Episode 2": [LINK]
Recommends dudurocha · 2012-05 · on “NASDAQ:FB”
I got to disagree. Not in the part that Facebook was important to Arab Spring and reconnect people long seen. I desagree in the part that rockets doesn't give benefits. Rockets and all 'complicated' science, push the human race forward. Your cellphone is only able to connect to the internet because of the rockets that were send to the atmosphere, long time ago. Better than me, I have to people to talk about this. Read Science and Culture, by Thomas Huxley : How often have we not been told that the study of physical science is incompetent to confer culture; that it touches none of the higher problems of life; and, what is worse, that the continual devotion to scientific studies tends to gener
Recommends shagie · 2022-08 · on “Launch Attempt Scrubbed”
There's a Neil deGrasse Tyson video titled We Stopped Dreaming that gets into the NASA budget (and the related society changes) [this video] The part about the NASA budget is at 2:00 though it's all a good watch.
Cites joering2 · 2013-06 · on “The Irrationality of Giving Up This Much Liberty to Fight Terror”
Cost of entire NASA program is pennies of the war cost... unfortunately there is more money to make at war, than at creating/maintaining peace and continuing humankind progress. [this video]
Cites Alupis · 2015-07 · on “NASA’s New Horizons Discovers Frozen Plains in the Heart of Pluto’s ‘Heart’”
> I'm tired of saying this, but I have to say it again. The NASA budget is four tenths of one penny on a tax dollar. If I held up the tax dollar, and I cut horizontally into it, four tenths of one percent of it's width, it doesn't even get you into the ink. So I will not accept a statement that says, we can't afford it! > Do you realize that the 850 billion dollar bank bailout; that sum of money is greater than the entire fifty year running budget of NASA. > How much would you pay for the universe? [1] "We Stopped Dreaming" - Neil deGrasse Tyson - [this video]
Cites visakanv · 2015-07 · on “NASA estimates 1B ‘Earths’ in our galaxy alone”
Human spaceflight isn't just about scientific breakthrough, or even planetary life insurance. It's also about inspiring people and radically changing people's worldviews. After all, once we're on two planets, it becomes "best in the worlds". The implications this has on people's imaginations is non-trivial: [this video]
Cites shagie · 2025-03 · on “NASA Turns Off 2 Voyager Science Instruments to Extend Mission”
Neil deGrasse Tyson - We Stopped Dreaming - [this video] Not so much "sources" but rather it was a "this was not the goal". (Side bit - after watching "We Stopped Dreaming" I find it necessary to watch Wanderers to dream again. [LINK] )