--- title: Neil DeGrasse Tyson Explains Meaning of Life to 6 Year Old: Video description: In response to a precocious 6-year-old canonical: https://time.com/3674398/neil-degrasse-tyson-explains-meaning-of-life/ author: Samantha Grossman article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-01-20T15:23:53.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-05-11T04:48:09.276Z og:title: Watch Neil deGrasse Tyson Explain the Meaning of Life og:description: In response to a precocious 6-year-old og:url: https://time.com/3674398/neil-degrasse-tyson-explains-meaning-of-life/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blteafc5dab98be6255/698778cacd1bba5fe56f485f/neil-degrasse-tyson.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Neil deGrasse Tyson og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Watch Neil deGrasse Tyson Explain the Meaning of Life twitter:description: In response to a precocious 6-year-old twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blteafc5dab98be6255/698778cacd1bba5fe56f485f/neil-degrasse-tyson.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Watch Neil deGrasse Tyson Explain the Meaning of Life by [Samantha Grossman](https://time.com/author/samantha-grossman/) ## Samantha Grossman Jan 20, 2015 3:23 PM UTC  Neil deGrasse Tyson in New York in 2014. Neil deGrasse Tyson in New York in 2014.Stan Honda—AFP/Getty Images by [Samantha Grossman](https://time.com/author/samantha-grossman/) ## Samantha Grossman Jan 20, 2015 3:23 PM UTC Famed astrophysicist and public speaker extraordinaire Neil deGrasse Tyson is pretty great at [interacting with young kids](http://time.com/3589261/neil-degrasse-tyson-advice-viral-video/). At a recent event in Boston, a 6-year-old boy (well, 6 and three quarters, as he makes sure to point out) [asked](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/01/17/neil-degrasse-tyson-meaning-of-life-video%5Fn%5F6489894.html), “What is the meaning of life?” The kid was _probably_ asking just to be cute, but deGrasse Tyson took the question seriously and responded with a very thoughtful, extended answer. He explains that it’s important to _create_ meaning for ourselves and make sure we’re constantly bringing ourselves a little bit closer to knowing everything there is to know. “If I live a day and I don’t know a little more that day than the day before,” he explains, “I think I wasted that day.” Basically, Neil deGrasse Tyson just really wants us all to maintain our sense of wonder and curiosity, whether we’re 6 and three quarters or 96 and three quarters. **MORE:** [Neil deGrasse Tyson Is Getting His Own Talk Show](http://time.com/3659253/neil-degrasse-tyson-show/) ### PHOTOS: 20 Breathtaking Images of Earth From Space  Aleppo, Syria, May 26, 2013 – The Citadel of Aleppo – medieval fortified palace DigitalGlobe—Getty Images  Belfast, Northern Ireland, Nov. 3, 2013 – “Wish,” a large-scale art work DigitalGlobe—Getty Images  Utah, USA, April 22, 2013 – Colorado River DigitalGlobe—Getty Images  Cuanza River, Angola, April 28, 2013 – Cambambe Dam DigitalGlobe—Getty Images  Doha, Qatar, March 4, 2013 – Artificial island spanning nearly four million sq meters. DigitalGlobe—Getty Images  Dunalley, Australia, Jan. 6, 2013 – fires, false color image (red = healthy vegetation) DigitalGlobe—Getty Images  Australia, April 22, 2013 – Great Barrier Reef DigitalGlobe—Getty Images  Gwadar coast, Pakistan Sept. 29, 2013 – new island created by earthquake in Pakistan DigitalGlobe—Getty Images  Croatia, Feb. 16, 2013 – Galešnjak (Island of Love) DigitalGlobe—Getty Images  Hong Kong, China May 9, 2013 – giant rubber duck DigitalGlobe—Getty Images  Madang Province, Papua New Guinea, March 22, 2013 – Manam Volcano DigitalGlobe—Getty Images  Namib Desert, Namibia, May 13, 2013 – Sossusvlie area DigitalGlobe—Getty Images  Naples, Italy, Feb. 19 2013 – Mount Vesuvius DigitalGlobe—Getty Images  Niger, Feb. 13, 2013 – Arlit Uranium Mine DigitalGlobe—Getty Images  Schooner Cays, Bahamas, May 26, 2013 DigitalGlobe—Getty Images  Sochi, Russia, March 17, 2013 – Site of 2014 winter Olympics DigitalGlobe—Getty Images  Near the city of Sur, Oman, Feb. 13, 2013 – massive “green tide” DigitalGlobe—Getty Images  Valencia, Spain, July 19, 2013 – Palau de les Arts Reina Sofia and Gulliver Park with an enormous fiberglass model of Lemuel Gulliver trapped DigitalGlobe—Getty Images  Versailles, France, Aug. 20, 2013 – Palace of Versailles DigitalGlobe—Getty Images  Xi'an, China, Sept. 24, 2013 – Shiyuan Park DigitalGlobe—Getty Images ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3674398/neil-degrasse-tyson-explains-meaning-of-life/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3674398/neil-degrasse-tyson-explains-meaning-of-life/"},"headline":"Watch Neil deGrasse Tyson Explain the Meaning of Life","datePublished":"2015-01-20T15:23:53.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T04:48:09.276Z","description":"In response to a precocious 6-year-old","url":"https://time.com/3674398/neil-degrasse-tyson-explains-meaning-of-life/","keywords":["Newsfeed","Science topic"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blteafc5dab98be6255/698778cacd1bba5fe56f485f/neil-degrasse-tyson.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Samantha Grossman","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/samantha-grossman/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blteafc5dab98be6255/698778cacd1bba5fe56f485f/neil-degrasse-tyson.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Neil deGrasse Tyson","caption":"Neil deGrasse Tyson in New York in 2014.","creditText":"Stan Honda—AFP/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3674398/neil-degrasse-tyson-explains-meaning-of-life/","name":"Watch Neil deGrasse Tyson Explain the Meaning of Life"}}]}] ```