We are all connected

October 28, 2009 3:01 AM

Carl Sagan, Richard Feynman, Neil deGrasse Tyson and Bill Nye, sing to us (auto-tuned in a way that I actually don't hate), in We Are All Connected*. *Possibly NSFW owing to sidebar video links. Something similar was mentioned here previously.
posted by bwg (38 comments total)

We've travelled this way before ... and there is much to be learned ...
posted by bwg at 3:03 AM on October 28 [1 favorite has favorites]

While I did enjoy this and the previous post, I have to wonder: when will Jacob Bronowski get some autotune lovin'?
posted by munchingzombie at 3:08 AM on October 28 [2 favorites has favorites]

The closest I've ever gotten to religious thought, the closest things I have to an afterlife, are those quotes: "We are made of starstuff," and "We are a way for the cosmos to know itself."
posted by Netzapper at 3:09 AM on October 28 [9 favorites has favorites]

While I love all four of these guys, and would count the first time I read Sagan as a life-changing experience, this is horrible. Like stuff-you-watch-when-you're-high-and-think-it's-awesome horrible.
posted by Roman Graves at 3:29 AM on October 28

'There is much to be learned...'. I need to get this translated into Latin and put on my bookcase as a family motto. Those guys are awesome.
posted by LVdB at 3:32 AM on October 28

Break.com? Why not link to the non-ick original Youtube post by the actual author?
posted by floam at 3:32 AM on October 28 [3 favorites has favorites]

I see this guy has begun a process of making this a series: Symphony of Science. I hope he makes tons of them like this.
posted by jscott at 3:32 AM on October 28

... this is horrible.

I beg to differ, so I guess that means we're not connected.

Why not link to the non-ick original Youtube post by the actual author?

Because unlike half the people on the web I'm not a slave to YouTube so it wasn't the first thing that popped into mind. If I could edit the original post I would but I can't, so if the mods want to revise it I have no problem with that.

Also, great comment Netzapper: that encapsulates the emotion I felt quite neatly.
posted by bwg at 3:40 AM on October 28

Sometimes I just have to turn to the deep, deep wisdom of youtube comments.

does anyone else think carl sagan's auto tune voice sounds kind of like kermit the frog?
posted by mek at 3:46 AM on October 28

Nooooo! Don't Muzak my lovely science!
posted by le morte de bea arthur at 4:04 AM on October 28

The Bill Nye segments aren't from Bill Nye the Science Guy, so they must be from the short-lived Eyes of Nye.

I really liked these song thingies. I'd like to see one with a little more actual meat on it, though.
posted by DU at 4:33 AM on October 28

I'm totally hooked on the Sagan / Hawking one of these - it's getting a listen pretty much every day.

It also prompted me to buy the DVD set of Sagan's Cosmos, which I'm about 5 episodes into and really enjoying (£18.48 if you can order from amazon.uk).
posted by nofunnyname at 5:18 AM on October 28

Not nearly as good as his other one.

wooOOP! Ahhhh! Ahhhhh!
posted by orme at 5:29 AM on October 28 [2 favorites has favorites]

Autotune is so damn horrible and so is this.
posted by GavinR at 5:40 AM on October 28

Sounds less like autotune and more like vocoder, and generally I hate autotune but this I don't mind.
posted by bwg at 5:59 AM on October 28

Being a slave to break.com is MUCH worse than being a slave to YouTube.
posted by jscott at 6:27 AM on October 28 [1 favorite has favorites]

[Changed the link to original source, carry on.]
posted by cortex at 6:33 AM on October 28

Sometimes I just have to turn to the deep, deep wisdom of youtube comments.

does anyone else think carl sagan's auto tune voice sounds kind of like kermit the frog?
posted by mek at 6:46 AM on October 28 [+] [!]

I was actually thinking, "geez, isn't it nice they didn't have to autotune Carl Sagan at all!"
posted by GodricVT at 6:42 AM on October 28

I loved the Sagan one, but don't much like this, not yet anyways. Also, Sagan seems more charismatic than these others, so maybe Jeaque Cousteau would work well, given the right music.
posted by jeffburdges at 6:48 AM on October 28

Autotune the Cosmos
posted by mccarty.tim at 7:13 AM on October 28

This is cool.
posted by Xoebe at 7:29 AM on October 28

I love this video.
posted by lazaruslong at 7:45 AM on October 28

Reminded me of one my favorite moments with Neil and Richard Dawkins.

Science is interesting, and if you don't agree, you can fuck off!
posted by lazaruslong at 7:46 AM on October 28 [3 favorites has favorites]

Neil talking about how he met Carl Sagan is also pretty excellent. I love Carl.
posted by lazaruslong at 7:47 AM on October 28 [3 favorites has favorites]

I beg to differ, so I guess that means we're not connected.

Ah, but every particle must have it's anti-particle. Balance, my good sir, balance.
posted by chambers at 8:04 AM on October 28

Maybe a case of fluctuating expectations -- I expected nothing from A Glorious Dawn and loved it; that left me with high expectations for this one and it left me cold. Glad to see it's the start of a series, though. I look forward to future installments.
posted by Durn Bronzefist at 9:20 AM on October 28

I saw these videos last week and was profoundly moved. I hope the Symphony of Science continues with many more segments. Also, I'm glad to see this on the Blue. Auto-tune may have its detractors but I feel that these are hymns for humankind.

A friend of mine found it ironic that Bill Nye was included among the giants of physics, but I feel that Nye's enthusiasm and the simply stated wonder at the size of the universe adds a measure innocence that I hope we can all touch upon when we look at the night sky.

A still more glorious dawn awaits? Indeed, Carl. May it be so.
posted by luminous phenomena at 9:29 AM on October 28

Possibly NSFW owing to sidebar video links

Can I have the NSFW links? ^_^

I liked A Glorious Dawn. This one less.

That second link was great, lazaruslong. Neil is pretty keen too.
posted by mrgrimm at 9:34 AM on October 28

This is my new little motivational tool for those days when I think to myself "why the fuck did I become a scientist?" Which, lately, is most days.
posted by Jon_Evil at 9:36 AM on October 28 [3 favorites has favorites]

John Boswell (the creator of these vids) was interviewed on Galactic Watercooler last week.
posted by ChurchHatesTucker at 11:52 AM on October 28

Autotune is much better suited to satire than serious melodification* IMHO.

However, the heart-on-sleeve accolades from many in this thread have extinguished any further criticisms I may have had.


*Okay, officially it's not actually a word, but it is a nice jazz CD.
posted by CynicalKnight at 1:32 PM on October 28

I beg to differ, so I guess that means we're not connected.

Ah, but every particle must have it's anti-particle. Balance, my good sir, balance.

Guess I should have used the sarcasm tags there ...
posted by bwg at 4:46 PM on October 28

It occurs to me that Carl Sagan is the Mister Rogers of science.
posted by ErWenn at 7:41 PM on October 28

I fucking loved this, thought I expected it to be goofy because of the autotune.

Seriously.
posted by Pecinpah at 10:01 PM on October 28

... I expected it to be goofy because of the autotune.

Yeah, for me it wasn't goofy at all, in fact it added a cosmic feel to the whole thing.
posted by bwg at 1:38 AM on October 29

As someone who grew up an Evangelical Christian, I can't help but compare this video--despite any shortcomings--to "worship".

The "composer" of the piece has expertly chosen selections in which the speakers seem to be overcome by the beauty and majesty of the cosmos in the same way I remember the old ladies in my childhood choir singing about there Savior.

There is something magnificent about a human being overcome by real awe.
posted by jefficator at 8:53 PM on October 29

Real awe isn't hard to attain when thinking about what we're made of.

Starstuff indeed.
posted by bwg at 10:44 PM on October 29

There is something magnificent about a human being overcome by real awe.

Ain't awe awesome?
posted by mek at 1:22 AM on October 30